Fatal RoadsSearch

Edition: FARS 2024, annual fileNHTSA released it on Release dates

Minnesota fatal crashes in 1985

FARS records 608 deaths in 536 fatal crashes in Minnesota in 1985.

In 1984 it records 582 deaths in 517 fatal crashes.

This site gives no rate for the years before 2000.

Deaths in Minnesota rose by 4.5% from 1984 to 1985. In the United States they fell by 1.0%.

In 1985, a driver was recorded as drinking in 41.0% of fatal crashes in Minnesota and 40.3% in the United States.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.

The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on .

This site reads the years before 2015 from one fixed copy. It does not track later revisions of these years. Release dates

1985 beside 1984

Table 1.Minnesota in 1985, in 1984 and the United States in 1985
FigureMinnesota, 1985Minnesota, 1984United States, 1985
Deaths60858243,825
Fatal crashes53651739,196
Deaths for each 100,000 residentsn/an/an/a
Fatal crashes with a driver recorded as drinking22026815,777

Note: this site has no rate for the years before 2000.

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. NHTSA's definitions

For the years before 2015 the count is from the FARS element DRUNK_DR. It counts a blood alcohol concentration of .01 g/dL or more. From 2015 the count is from DR_DRINK and counts .001 g/dL or more.

Counties in 1985

Table 2.Minnesota: counties with a fatal crash in 1985, in name order
CountyDeathsFatal crashes
Aitkin County97
Anoka County1817
Becker County127
Beltrami County43
Benton County44
Big Stone County33
Blue Earth County44
Brown County55
Carlton County1 or 21 or 2
Carver County44
Cass County1210
Chippewa County76
Chisago County65
Clay County1 or 21 or 2
Clearwater County44
Cook County1 or 21 or 2
Cottonwood County73
Crow Wing County129
Dakota County2827
Dodge County33
Douglas County1 or 21 or 2
Faribault County43
Fillmore County55
Freeborn County76
Goodhue County66
Grant County44
Hennepin County6964
Houston County1 or 21 or 2
Hubbard County55
Isanti County44
Itasca County129
Jackson County33
Kandiyohi County65
Kittson County84
Koochiching County1 or 21 or 2
Lac qui Parle County33
Lake County31 or 2
Lake of the Woods County1 or 21 or 2
Le Sueur County33
Lyon County55
Mahnomen County1 or 21 or 2
Marshall County1 or 21 or 2
Martin County54
McLeod County86
Meeker County54
Mille Lacs County55
Morrison County65
Mower County77
Murray County33
Nicollet County108
Nobles County33
Norman County74
Olmsted County2017
Otter Tail County75
Pine County44
Pipestone County1 or 21 or 2
Polk County44
Pope County31 or 2
Ramsey County4037
Redwood County1 or 21 or 2
Renville County54
Rice County33
Rock County1 or 21 or 2
Roseau County33
Scott County77
Sherburne County119
Sibley County33
St. Louis County3734
Stearns County2422
Steele County55
Swift County1 or 21 or 2
Todd County76
Wabasha County66
Wadena County1 or 21 or 2
Waseca County1 or 21 or 2
Washington County2119
Watonwan County1 or 21 or 2
Winona County44
Wright County2015
Yellow Medicine County33

Note: a county with no fatal crash in 1985 is not in the table. A count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2".

Time of day and weekday

Table 3.Minnesota: fatal crashes by time of day, 1985
Time of dayFatal crashesShare
Midnight to 6 a.m.12623.7%
6 a.m. to noon8616.2%
Noon to 6 p.m.17032.0%
6 p.m. to midnight14928.1%
Table 4.Minnesota: fatal crashes by weekday, 1985
WeekdayFatal crashesShare
Sunday9117.0%
Monday6411.9%
Tuesday7113.2%
Wednesday6211.6%
Thursday7914.7%
Friday7313.6%
Saturday9617.9%

Note: the tables have the fatal crashes with a known hour or weekday.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Minnesota fatal crashes in 1985. https://fatalroads.com/state/minnesota/1985/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to .

The address of this page does not change.

Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national file of 1985. This site reads the years before 2015 from one fixed copy. It does not track later revisions of these years. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Data to .

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

Which file does the 1985 page use?

This site reads the years before 2015 from one fixed copy. It does not track later revisions of these years.

What part of the deaths in the United States in 1985 was in Minnesota?

Minnesota had 608 of the 43,825 deaths in the United States in 1985. That is 1.4 percent.

In how many counties of Minnesota did FARS record a fatal crash in 1985?

FARS records one or more fatal crashes in 80 counties of Minnesota in 1985.

How many fatal crashes in Minnesota in 1985 had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 220 of 536 fatal crashes in 1985.