Fatal crash profile · State

Traffic deaths in North Carolina

State in United States

Deaths, 2024
1,619
Fatal crashes
1,509
Population
11.1M

In 2024, 1,619 people died in 1,509 fatal crashes in North Carolina, about 4 a day. That was 2.7% more than in 2023 (1,577) and the most since 2022. The death rate was 14.6 per 100,000 residents, compared with 11.5 in the United States. North Carolina had the 4th most traffic deaths of the 51 states and DC and the 15th-highest death rate. Pedestrians accounted for 16% of deaths, and 41% of fatal crashes were speeding-related.

Deaths

Traffic deaths

14.6

deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024

  • About 1.3 times the rate in the United States: 11.5

+3%

change in deaths from 2023 to 2024

1,577 deaths in 2023, 1,619 in 2024

  • The United States: -4%
Traffic deaths by year, 1975–2024
Category Deaths Fatal crashes
1975 1,506 1,343
1976 1,502 1,304
1977 1,428 1,251
1978 1,492 1,331
1979 1,527 1,352
1980 1,503 1,327
1981 1,475 1,319
1982 1,303 1,168
1983 1,234 1,083
1984 1,450 1,291
1985 1,482 1,332
1986 1,647 1,489
1987 1,584 1,416
1988 1,573 1,400
1989 1,471 1,321
1990 1,385 1,250
1991 1,369 1,213
1992 1,265 1,124
1993 1,389 1,228
1994 1,431 1,254
1995 1,448 1,305
1996 1,494 1,329
1997 1,483 1,290
1998 1,596 1,433
1999 1,505 1,350
2000 1,557 1,408
2001 1,530 1,360
2002 1,576 1,427
2003 1,553 1,396
2004 1,573 1,417
2005 1,547 1,418
2006 1,554 1,424
2007 1,676 1,515
2008 1,428 1,319
2009 1,313 1,207
2010 1,320 1,218
2011 1,230 1,143
2012 1,299 1,229
2013 1,290 1,188
2014 1,284 1,188
2015 1,379 1,275
2016 1,450 1,348
2017 1,412 1,306
2018 1,436 1,321
2019 1,457 1,358
2020 1,538 1,415
2021 1,693 1,563
2022 1,631 1,501
2023 1,577 1,465
2024 1,619 1,509

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, 2000–2024
Category Deaths per 100,000
2000 19.3
2001 18.6
2002 18.9
2003 18.4
2004 18.4
2005 17.8
2006 17.4
2007 18.4
2008 15.3
2009 13.9
2010 13.8
2011 12.7
2012 13.3
2013 13.1
2014 12.9
2015 13.8
2016 14.3
2017 13.8
2018 13.8
2019 13.9
2020 14.7
2021 16.0
2022 15.2
2023 14.5
2024 14.7

Uses Census population estimates, available from 2000.

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Profile by year: 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020

Road users

Who died

16%

of deaths were pedestrians

  • About the same as the share in the United States: 18%
Who died in 2024
Category Deaths
Vehicle occupants and others 1,099
Pedestrians 264
Motorcyclists 212
Cyclists 44
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Deaths by type, 2024
Type Deaths Share in North Carolina Share in the US
Pedestrians 264 16% 18%
Motorcyclists 212 13% 16%
Cyclists 44 3% 3%
Alcohol-impaired driving crashes 449 28% 30%
Speeding-related crashes 676 42% 29%

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

41%

of fatal crashes were speeding-related

  • About 1.5 times the share in the United States: 28%

21%

of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver

  • About 85 percent of the share in the United States: 25%
Crash factors in 2024
Category North Carolina United States
Speeding-related 20.8% 24.8%
Alcohol-involved 40.8% 28.1%
At night 50.2% 53.6%
At weekends 31.4% 32.6%

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

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Timing

When crashes happen

50%

of fatal crashes happened at night

  • About the same as the share in the United States: 54%

31%

of fatal crashes happened at weekends

  • About the same as the share in the United States: 33%
Fatal crashes by hour of day
Category Fatal crashes
12am 276
1am 245
2am 284
3am 172
4am 170
5am 177
6am 277
7am 267
8am 239
9am 215
10am 221
11am 256
12pm 310
1pm 322
2pm 351
3pm 333
4pm 390
5pm 430
6pm 463
7pm 431
8pm 461
9pm 471
10pm 369
11pm 315

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by day of week
Category Fatal crashes
Sun 1,110
Mon 959
Tue 950
Wed 969
Thu 1,022
Fri 1,164
Sat 1,279

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by month
Category Fatal crashes
Jan 553
Feb 498
Mar 564
Apr 623
May 677
Jun 648
Jul 684
Aug 634
Sep 656
Oct 656
Nov 622
Dec 638

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Conditions

Weather and light

Weather at the time of the crash
Category Fatal crashes
Clear 5,949
Cloudy 754
Rain 627
Fog, Smog, Smoke 71
Snow 12
Sleet or Hail 3

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 3,599
Dark - Not Lighted 2,601
Dark - Lighted 891
Dusk 179
Dawn 130
Dark - Unknown Lighting 22

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

  1. I-85145
  2. I-40143
  3. US-70119
  4. US-6493
  5. I-9591
  6. US-7488
  7. US-42186
  8. I-7766
  9. US-1762
  10. SR-8761

Road names as recorded in police reports.

Vehicles involved, by type
Category Vehicles
Cars 4,604
SUVs 2,200
Pickup trucks 1,824
Motorcycles 1,105
Medium and heavy trucks 900
Vans 478
Other vehicles 268
Buses 32
Other light trucks 17

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Vehicles most often involved

  1. Honda Accord380
  2. Chevrolet Silverado346
  3. Ford F-150305
  4. Honda Civic258
  5. Toyota Camry251
  6. Nissan Altima203
  7. Toyota Corolla149
  8. Ford Explorer139
  9. Ford Ranger135
  10. Toyota Tacoma121

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.

Filter crashes
Crash factors
Date Location Deaths
May 17, 2023 Wake County 1
May 17, 2023 Montgomery County 1
May 17, 2023 Winston Salem, Forsyth County 1
May 17, 2023 Winston Salem, Forsyth County 1
May 17, 2023 Clinton, Sampson County 1
May 17, 2023 Durham, Durham County 1
May 16, 2023 Charlotte, Mecklenburg County 1
May 15, 2023 Wake County 1
May 15, 2023 Wilmington, New Hanover County 1
May 15, 2023 Guilford County 1
May 15, 2023 Eden, Rockingham County 1
May 14, 2023 Tarboro, Edgecombe County 1
May 14, 2023 Fayetteville, Cumberland County 1
May 14, 2023 Nash County 1
May 14, 2023 Bladen County 1
May 14, 2023 Buncombe County 1
May 14, 2023 Raleigh, Wake County 2
May 14, 2023 Durham, Durham County 1
May 13, 2023 Scotland County 2
May 13, 2023 Rockingham County 1
May 13, 2023 Catawba County 1
May 12, 2023 Wake County 1
May 12, 2023 Scotland County 1
May 12, 2023 Randolph County 1
May 12, 2023 Henderson County 1

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Nearby and related

Counties in North Carolina

Area Deaths, 2024 Per 100,000
Alamance County 25 13.6
Alexander County 6 16.3
Alleghany County 0 —
Anson County 13 60.4
Ashe County 3 11.0
Avery County 2 11.0
Beaufort County 11 24.6
Bertie County 1 5.8
Bladen County 6 20.0
Brunswick County 24 14.4
Buncombe County 44 15.8
Burke County 18 20.3
Cabarrus County 23 9.4
Caldwell County 24 29.7
Camden County 0 —
Carteret County 13 18.5
Caswell County 7 31.2
Catawba County 22 13.2
Chatham County 17 20.3
Cherokee County 4 13.2
Chowan County 0 —
Clay County 5 41.8
Cleveland County 16 15.6
Columbus County 18 35.8
Craven County 12 11.5
Cumberland County 59 17.5
Currituck County 2 6.2
Dare County 7 18.3
Davidson County 33 18.5
Davie County 10 22.0
Duplin County 19 37.3
Durham County 31 9.1
Edgecombe County 15 30.6
Forsyth County 39 9.8
Franklin County 17 21.3
Gaston County 37 15.2
Gates County 5 48.6
Graham County 2 24.6
Granville County 9 14.6
Greene County 4 19.3
Guilford County 74 13.3
Halifax County 13 27.7
Harnett County 35 23.9
Haywood County 10 15.8
Henderson County 16 13.2
Hertford County 7 36.7
Hoke County 15 26.9
Hyde County 1 21.8
Iredell County 27 13.1
Jackson County 5 11.1
Johnston County 40 16.0
Jones County 1 10.5
Lee County 12 17.4
Lenoir County 15 27.1
Lincoln County 7 7.2
Macon County 8 20.6
Madison County 9 40.1
Martin County 5 23.2
McDowell County 6 13.2
Mecklenburg County 121 10.0
Mitchell County 5 33.0
Montgomery County 8 30.4
Moore County 17 15.7
Nash County 12 12.1
New Hanover County 29 11.9
Northampton County 7 42.4
Onslow County 19 8.9
Orange County 22 14.5
Pamlico County 3 23.6
Pasquotank County 4 9.6
Pender County 7 10.0
Perquimans County 3 22.3
Person County 6 14.9
Pitt County 26 14.4
Polk County 5 24.5
Randolph County 29 19.5
Richmond County 14 33.2
Robeson County 46 38.5
Rockingham County 13 13.9
Rowan County 32 20.8
Rutherford County 16 24.4
Sampson County 21 34.4
Scotland County 8 23.8
Stanly County 11 16.3
Stokes County 6 13.1
Surry County 12 16.7
Swain County 2 14.2
Transylvania County 4 11.7
Tyrrell County 4 114.4
Union County 24 9.1
Vance County 4 9.4
Wake County 83 6.8
Warren County 8 42.0
Washington County 3 28.2
Watauga County 4 7.3
Wayne County 21 17.3
Wilkes County 17 25.7
Wilson County 21 26.0
Yadkin County 11 28.8
Yancey County 2 10.5

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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.