Fatal crash profile · County

Traffic deaths in Avery County, North Carolina

County in North Carolina · United States

Deaths, 2024: 2
Fatal crashes: 2
Population: 18.1K

In 2024, 2 people died in 2 fatal crashes in Avery County, North Carolina. That was 50.0% fewer than in 2023 (4) and the fewest since 2022. The death rate was 11.0 per 100,000 residents, compared with 14.6 in North Carolina and 11.5 in the United States. Avery County had the 90th most traffic deaths among North Carolina's counties. Between 2020 and 2024, 12 people died, an average of 2.4 a year. That rate is based on fewer than 20 deaths, so it can swing a lot from year to year. 100% of fatal crashes were speeding-related.

Deaths

Traffic deaths

11.0

deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024

About three-quarters of the rate in North Carolina: 14.6
About the same as the rate in the United States: 11.5

13.5

average deaths per 100,000 residents a year, 2020–2024

About 90 percent of the average in North Carolina: 15.0
About the same as the average in the United States: 12.3

-50%

change in deaths from 2023 to 2024

4 deaths in 2023, 2 in 2024

North Carolina: +3%
The United States: -4%

Traffic deaths by year, 2020–2024

Category	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2020	4	4
2021	1	1
2022	1	1
2023	4	4
2024	2	2

People who died within 30 days of a crash. A fatal crash can kill more than one person.

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Deaths per 100,000 residents, 2020–2024

Category	Deaths per 100,000
2020	22.3
2021	5.7
2022	5.7
2023	22.5
2024	11.1

Uses Census population estimates, available from 2000.

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Road users

Who died

of deaths were pedestrians

About 5 percent of the share in North Carolina: 16%
About 5 percent of the share in the United States: 18%

Who died in 2024

Category	Deaths
Vehicle occupants and others	1
Pedestrians	0
Motorcyclists	1
Cyclists	0

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Deaths by type, 2024
Type	Deaths	Share in Avery County	Share in North Carolina
Pedestrians	0	0%	16%
Motorcyclists	1	50%	13%
Cyclists	0	0%	3%
Alcohol-impaired driving crashes	2	100%	28%
Speeding-related crashes	2	100%	42%

Alcohol-impaired and speeding-related count everyone killed in those crashes, so a death can appear in more than one row.

Crash factors

Speeding, alcohol, night and weekend crashes

100%

of fatal crashes were speeding-related

About double the share in North Carolina: 41%
About 4 times the share in the United States: 28%

100%

of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver

About 5 times the share in North Carolina: 21%
About 4 times the share in the United States: 25%

Crash factors in 2024

Category	Avery County	North Carolina	United States
Speeding-related	100.0%	20.8%	24.8%
Alcohol-involved	100.0%	40.8%	28.1%
At night	100.0%	50.2%	53.6%
At weekends	100.0%	31.4%	32.6%

Share of fatal crashes. Alcohol-involved means a police-reported drinking driver.

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Timing

When crashes happen

100%

of fatal crashes happened at night

About double the share in North Carolina: 50%
About 1.9 times the share in the United States: 54%

100%

of fatal crashes happened at weekends

About 3 times the share in North Carolina: 31%
About 3 times the share in the United States: 33%

Fatal crashes by hour of day

Category	Fatal crashes
12am	0
1am	0
2am	0
3am	1
4am	0
5am	0
6am	1
7am	0
8am	0
9am	0
10am	3
11am	0
12pm	0
1pm	1
2pm	2
3pm	0
4pm	1
5pm	0
6pm	0
7pm	1
8pm	1
9pm	0
10pm	0
11pm	1

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by day of week

Category	Fatal crashes
Sun	3
Mon	2
Tue	2
Wed	0
Thu	2
Fri	0
Sat	3

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by month

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	0
Feb	3
Mar	1
Apr	1
May	2
Jun	1
Jul	1
Aug	0
Sep	1
Oct	0
Nov	0
Dec	2

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Conditions

Weather and light

Weather at the time of the crash

Category	Fatal crashes
Clear	5
Cloudy	3
Rain	2
Snow	2

All crashes 2020–2024. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Light conditions at the time of the crash

Category	Fatal crashes
Daylight	8
Dark - Not Lighted	4

All crashes 2020–2024. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Roads and vehicles

Where and what, 2020–2024

Roads with the most fatal crashes

SR-1054
US-221 LINVILLE FALLS HWY2
SSR-13611
SSR-1311 JOHN JONES1
SSR-1117 HORNEY RD1
SR-194 MAIN ST1
SR-194 BANNER ELK1
SR-1811

Road names as recorded in police reports.

Vehicles involved, by type

Category	Vehicles
Cars	4
Pickup trucks	3
Motorcycles	2
SUVs	2
Other vehicles	1
Vans	1

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Vehicles most often involved

Reflects how common a vehicle is as well as crash involvement; not a safety rating.

Crashes

Fatal crashes

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Fatal crashes in 2024. Crashes without reported coordinates are not shown.

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From To

Who died Time of day Day Weather Lighting Vehicle type involved Make involved

Alcohol-involved Speeding-related Distracted driver

Date	Location	Road	Deaths
Dec 1, 2024	—	SSR-1361	1
May 26, 2024	—	SR-181	1
Dec 26, 2023	—	SR-194 BANNER ELK	1
Jul 15, 2023	—	SR-105	1
May 20, 2023	—	US-221 LINVILLE FALLS HWY	1
Feb 13, 2023	—	SR-105	1
Jun 12, 2022	—	SSR-1117 HORNEY RD	1
Sep 9, 2021	—	SR-105	1
Apr 6, 2020	—	US-221 LINVILLE FALLS HWY	1
Mar 3, 2020	—	SR-194 MAIN ST	1
Feb 6, 2020	—	SR-105	1
Feb 1, 2020	—	SSR-1311 JOHN JONES	1

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Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2020–2024. A fatal crash is one in which at least one person died within 30 days. Population: US Census Bureau estimates.