Fatal RoadsSearch

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

Tennessee fatal crashes in 1987

FARS records 1,247 deaths in 1,101 fatal crashes in Tennessee in 1987.

In 1986 it records 1,230 deaths in 1,102 fatal crashes.

This site gives no rate for the years before 2000.

Deaths in Tennessee rose by 1.4% from 1986 to 1987. In the United States they rose by 0.7%.

In 1987, a driver was recorded as drinking in 43.3% of fatal crashes in Tennessee and 42.1% 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

1987 beside 1986

Table 1.Tennessee in 1987, in 1986 and the United States in 1987
FigureTennessee, 1987Tennessee, 1986United States, 1987
Deaths1,2471,23046,390
Fatal crashes1,1011,10241,438
Deaths for each 100,000 residentsn/an/an/a
Fatal crashes with a driver recorded as drinking47751617,427

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 1987

Table 2.Tennessee: counties with a fatal crash in 1987, in name order
CountyDeathsFatal crashes
Anderson County1311
Bedford County1510
Benton County88
Bledsoe County33
Blount County1716
Bradley County1616
Campbell County1514
Cannon County54
Carroll County87
Carter County109
Cheatham County66
Chester County93
Claiborne County54
Clay County1 or 21 or 2
Cocke County1514
Coffee County1110
Crockett County87
Cumberland County109
Davidson County121112
Decatur County137
DeKalb County87
Dickson County1311
Dyer County88
Fayette County2014
Fentress County54
Franklin County77
Gibson County1111
Giles County108
Grainger County1 or 21 or 2
Greene County1413
Grundy County53
Hamblen County66
Hamilton County4639
Hancock County43
Hardeman County98
Hardin County77
Hawkins County119
Haywood County1111
Henderson County119
Henry County33
Hickman County129
Houston County1 or 21 or 2
Humphreys County1 or 21 or 2
Jackson County33
Jefferson County119
Johnson County1413
Knox County7769
Lauderdale County66
Lawrence County119
Lewis County55
Lincoln County1210
Loudon County77
Macon County44
Madison County2019
Marion County88
Marshall County44
Maury County1010
McMinn County1614
McNairy County98
Meigs County65
Monroe County1010
Montgomery County2522
Moore County1 or 21 or 2
Morgan County76
Obion County1010
Overton County1614
Perry County44
Pickett County1 or 21 or 2
Polk County1312
Putnam County1916
Rhea County88
Roane County88
Robertson County119
Rutherford County2321
Scott County54
Sequatchie County33
Sevier County1413
Shelby County129116
Smith County55
Stewart County33
Sullivan County3126
Sumner County2621
Tipton County1310
Trousdale County1 or 21 or 2
Unicoi County33
Union County55
Van Buren County54
Warren County66
Washington County2319
Wayne County53
Weakley County1010
White County33
Williamson County2820
Wilson County1414

Note: a county with no fatal crash in 1987 is not in the table. A count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2".

Time of day and weekday

Table 3.Tennessee: fatal crashes by time of day, 1987
Time of dayFatal crashesShare
Midnight to 6 a.m.25723.6%
6 a.m. to noon15714.4%
Noon to 6 p.m.29627.2%
6 p.m. to midnight37734.7%
Table 4.Tennessee: fatal crashes by weekday, 1987
WeekdayFatal crashesShare
Sunday15914.5%
Monday13612.4%
Tuesday12811.6%
Wednesday12411.3%
Thursday14913.6%
Friday18416.7%
Saturday21919.9%

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Tennessee fatal crashes in 1987. https://fatalroads.com/state/tennessee/1987/. 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 1987. 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 1987 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 1987 was in Tennessee?

Tennessee had 1,247 of the 46,390 deaths in the United States in 1987. That is 2.7 percent.

In how many counties of Tennessee did FARS record a fatal crash in 1987?

FARS records one or more fatal crashes in 94 counties of Tennessee in 1987.

How many fatal crashes in Tennessee in 1987 had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 477 of 1,101 fatal crashes in 1987.