West Virginia fatal crashes in 1978
FARS records 457 deaths in 402 fatal crashes in West Virginia in 1978.
In 1977 it records 514 deaths in 450 fatal crashes.
This site gives no rate for the years before 2000.
Deaths in West Virginia fell by 11.1% from 1977 to 1978. In the United States they rose by 5.1%.
In 1978, a driver was recorded as drinking in 16.9% of fatal crashes in West Virginia and 35.5% 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
1978 beside 1977
| Figure | West Virginia, 1978 | West Virginia, 1977 | United States, 1978 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 457 | 514 | 50,331 |
| Fatal crashes | 402 | 450 | 44,433 |
| Deaths for each 100,000 residents | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Fatal crashes with a driver recorded as drinking | 68 | n/a | 15,780 |
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
NHTSA says that its count of drinking drivers is unreliable for 1977, 1981 and 1999 to 2007, because it was derived in a wrong way. This site gives no count for these years.
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 1978
| County | Deaths | Fatal crashes |
|---|---|---|
| Barbour County | 12 | 8 |
| Berkeley County | 4 | 4 |
| Boone County | 14 | 12 |
| Brooke County | 1 or 2 | 1 or 2 |
| Cabell County | 15 | 15 |
| Calhoun County | 4 | 4 |
| Clay County | 1 or 2 | 1 or 2 |
| Doddridge County | 5 | 4 |
| Fayette County | 25 | 22 |
| Gilmer County | 5 | 4 |
| Grant County | 6 | 4 |
| Greenbrier County | 9 | 7 |
| Hampshire County | 7 | 7 |
| Hancock County | 3 | 3 |
| Hardy County | 3 | 3 |
| Harrison County | 10 | 10 |
| Jackson County | 3 | 3 |
| Jefferson County | 10 | 8 |
| Kanawha County | 66 | 54 |
| Lewis County | 5 | 4 |
| Lincoln County | 7 | 7 |
| Logan County | 5 | 5 |
| Marion County | 9 | 5 |
| Marshall County | 5 | 5 |
| Mason County | 6 | 5 |
| McDowell County | 16 | 16 |
| Mercer County | 18 | 17 |
| Mineral County | 4 | 4 |
| Mingo County | 8 | 8 |
| Monongalia County | 14 | 14 |
| Monroe County | 3 | 3 |
| Morgan County | 3 | 3 |
| Nicholas County | 15 | 14 |
| Ohio County | 11 | 9 |
| Pendleton County | 5 | 5 |
| Pleasants County | 6 | 6 |
| Pocahontas County | 5 | 3 |
| Preston County | 5 | 5 |
| Putnam County | 15 | 14 |
| Raleigh County | 15 | 13 |
| Randolph County | 11 | 9 |
| Ritchie County | 9 | 7 |
| Roane County | 6 | 6 |
| Taylor County | 4 | 4 |
| Tucker County | 1 or 2 | 1 or 2 |
| Tyler County | 3 | 3 |
| Upshur County | 6 | 6 |
| Wayne County | 6 | 6 |
| Webster County | 4 | 1 or 2 |
| Wetzel County | 5 | 3 |
| Wood County | 14 | 11 |
| Wyoming County | 4 | 4 |
Note: a county with no fatal crash in 1978 is not in the table. A count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2".
Time of day and weekday
| Time of day | Fatal crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Midnight to 6 a.m. | 74 | 18.7% |
| 6 a.m. to noon | 75 | 18.9% |
| Noon to 6 p.m. | 117 | 29.5% |
| 6 p.m. to midnight | 130 | 32.8% |
| Weekday | Fatal crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 64 | 15.9% |
| Monday | 39 | 9.7% |
| Tuesday | 69 | 17.2% |
| Wednesday | 52 | 12.9% |
| Thursday | 41 | 10.2% |
| Friday | 47 | 11.7% |
| Saturday | 90 | 22.4% |
Note: the tables have the fatal crashes with a known hour or weekday.
Cite this page
Fatal Roads. West Virginia fatal crashes in 1978. https://fatalroads.com/state/west-virginia/1978/. 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 1978. 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 1978 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 1978 was in West Virginia?
West Virginia had 457 of the 50,331 deaths in the United States in 1978. That is 0.9 percent.
In how many counties of West Virginia did FARS record a fatal crash in 1978?
FARS records one or more fatal crashes in 52 counties of West Virginia in 1978.
How many fatal crashes in West Virginia in 1978 had a driver recorded as drinking?
FARS records a driver as drinking in 68 of 402 fatal crashes in 1978.