Fatal crash profile · State

Traffic deaths in Tennessee

State in United States

Deaths, 2024
1,197
Fatal crashes
1,093
Population
7.3M

In 2024, 1,197 people died in 1,093 fatal crashes in Tennessee, about 3 a day. That was 9.5% fewer than in 2023 (1,323) and the fewest since 2019. The death rate was 16.5 per 100,000 residents, compared with 11.5 in the United States. Tennessee had the 7th most traffic deaths of the 51 states and DC and the 8th-highest death rate. Pedestrians accounted for 13% of deaths, and 17% of fatal crashes were speeding-related.

Deaths

Traffic deaths

16.5

deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024

  • About 1.4 times the rate in the United States: 11.5

-10%

change in deaths from 2023 to 2024

1,323 deaths in 2023, 1,197 in 2024

  • The United States: -4%
Traffic deaths by year, 1975–2024
Category Deaths Fatal crashes
1975 1,126 987
1976 1,149 1,013
1977 1,223 1,080
1978 1,241 1,099
1979 1,210 1,045
1980 1,153 1,007
1981 1,104 983
1982 1,055 944
1983 1,037 919
1984 1,095 990
1985 1,101 997
1986 1,230 1,102
1987 1,247 1,101
1988 1,266 1,116
1989 1,088 977
1990 1,177 1,045
1991 1,113 1,002
1992 1,153 1,027
1993 1,170 1,041
1994 1,214 1,109
1995 1,259 1,130
1996 1,239 1,120
1997 1,225 1,104
1998 1,216 1,110
1999 1,302 1,169
2000 1,307 1,177
2001 1,251 1,126
2002 1,177 1,058
2003 1,193 1,091
2004 1,339 1,191
2005 1,270 1,161
2006 1,284 1,161
2007 1,211 1,111
2008 1,043 958
2009 986 915
2010 1,032 958
2011 937 867
2012 1,015 929
2013 995 911
2014 963 893
2015 962 888
2016 1,037 962
2017 1,024 942
2018 1,040 973
2019 1,136 1,041
2020 1,217 1,119
2021 1,327 1,229
2022 1,313 1,214
2023 1,323 1,219
2024 1,197 1,093

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 22.9
2001 21.8
2002 20.3
2003 20.4
2004 22.7
2005 21.2
2006 21.1
2007 19.6
2008 16.7
2009 15.6
2010 16.2
2011 14.6
2012 15.7
2013 15.3
2014 14.7
2015 14.6
2016 15.6
2017 15.3
2018 15.4
2019 16.6
2020 17.6
2021 19.1
2022 18.6
2023 18.5
2024 16.5

Uses Census population estimates, available from 2000.

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

Road users

Who died

13%

of deaths were pedestrians

  • About three-quarters of the share in the United States: 18%
Who died in 2024
Category Deaths
Vehicle occupants and others 842
Pedestrians 158
Motorcyclists 188
Cyclists 9
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Deaths by type, 2024
Type Deaths Share in Tennessee Share in the US
Pedestrians 158 13% 18%
Motorcyclists 188 16% 16%
Cyclists 9 1% 3%
Alcohol-impaired driving crashes 332 28% 30%
Speeding-related crashes 224 19% 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

17%

of fatal crashes were speeding-related

  • About 60 percent of the share in the United States: 28%

25%

of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver

  • About the same as the share in the United States: 25%
Crash factors in 2024
Category Tennessee United States
Speeding-related 25.1% 24.8%
Alcohol-involved 17.4% 28.1%
At night 47.4% 53.6%
At weekends 34.5% 32.6%

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

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Timing

When crashes happen

47%

of fatal crashes happened at night

  • About 90 percent of the share in the United States: 54%

34%

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 220
1am 191
2am 152
3am 145
4am 121
5am 162
6am 167
7am 161
8am 150
9am 151
10am 197
11am 206
12pm 263
1pm 233
2pm 281
3pm 311
4pm 307
5pm 331
6pm 328
7pm 321
8pm 348
9pm 334
10pm 294
11pm 247

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by day of week
Category Fatal crashes
Sun 882
Mon 775
Tue 688
Wed 795
Thu 858
Fri 881
Sat 995

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by month
Category Fatal crashes
Jan 391
Feb 368
Mar 424
Apr 497
May 500
Jun 546
Jul 533
Aug 555
Sep 567
Oct 561
Nov 471
Dec 461

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Conditions

Weather and light

Weather at the time of the crash
Category Fatal crashes
Clear 4,598
Cloudy 574
Rain 528
Fog, Smog, Smoke 41
Snow 22
Sleet or Hail 6

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 2,823
Dark - Not Lighted 1,447
Dark - Lighted 1,276
Dusk 146
Dawn 96
Dark - Unknown Lighting 34

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-40314
  2. I-24165
  3. I-6571
  4. I-7571
  5. I-24053
  6. US-61 SR-14 S THIRD ST47
  7. SR-175 SHELBY DR42
  8. US-78 SR-4 LAMAR AVE32
  9. SR-14 JACKSON AVE30
  10. I-8129

Road names as recorded in police reports.

Vehicles involved, by type
Category Vehicles
Cars 3,567
SUVs 1,751
Pickup trucks 1,534
Motorcycles 871
Medium and heavy trucks 830
Other vehicles 381
Vans 272
Buses 22
Other light trucks 3

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Vehicles most often involved

  1. Chevrolet Silverado276
  2. Ford F-150270
  3. Nissan Altima233
  4. Toyota Camry157
  5. Honda Accord153
  6. Freightliner Cascadia143
  7. Honda Civic132
  8. GMC Sierra124
  9. Dodge Ram121
  10. Nissan Sentra102

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
Feb 24, 2024 Memphis, Shelby County 2
Feb 23, 2024 Smyrna, Rutherford County 1
Feb 23, 2024 Memphis, Shelby County 1
Feb 23, 2024 Rutherford County 1
Feb 22, 2024 Morristown, Hamblen County 1
Feb 21, 2024 Knoxville, Knox County 1
Feb 21, 2024 Livingston, Overton County 1
Feb 21, 2024 Bradley County 1
Feb 19, 2024 Selmer, McNairy County 1
Feb 19, 2024 Memphis, Shelby County 1
Feb 18, 2024 Weakley County 1
Feb 18, 2024 Haywood County 1
Feb 17, 2024 Nashville, Davidson County 3
Feb 16, 2024 Bristol, Sullivan County 1
Feb 16, 2024 Bedford County 1
Feb 16, 2024 Memphis, Shelby County 1
Feb 15, 2024 Gallatin, Sumner County 1
Feb 15, 2024 Coffee County 1
Feb 14, 2024 Memphis, Shelby County 1
Feb 14, 2024 Meigs County 2
Feb 13, 2024 Sumner County 1
Feb 13, 2024 Memphis, Shelby County 1
Feb 12, 2024 Maryville, Blount County 1
Feb 11, 2024 Monroe County 1
Feb 11, 2024 Antioch, Davidson County 4

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Nearby and related

Counties in Tennessee

Area Deaths, 2024 Per 100,000
Anderson County 13 15.9
Bedford County 6 11.0
Benton County 1 6.2
Bledsoe County 8 51.4
Blount County 25 17.6
Bradley County 15 13.1
Campbell County 7 17.4
Cannon County 5 33.0
Carroll County 6 20.5
Carter County 8 13.9
Cheatham County 4 9.4
Chester County 7 39.2
Claiborne County 7 21.3
Clay County 0 —
Cocke County 11 29.1
Coffee County 15 24.4
Crockett County 3 21.5
Cumberland County 14 21.3
Davidson County 114 15.5
DeKalb County 5 23.1
Decatur County 3 25.6
Dickson County 12 20.8
Dyer County 4 11.0
Fayette County 11 24.7
Fentress County 7 35.0
Franklin County 1 2.2
Gibson County 8 15.5
Giles County 10 32.2
Grainger County 3 12.0
Greene County 24 32.7
Grundy County 5 35.4
Hamblen County 16 23.5
Hamilton County 39 10.1
Hancock County 2 28.4
Hardeman County 4 15.7
Hardin County 6 21.7
Hawkins County 4 6.7
Haywood County 9 52.3
Henderson County 9 31.9
Henry County 3 9.1
Hickman County 5 19.3
Houston County 0 —
Humphreys County 5 25.6
Jackson County 5 40.2
Jefferson County 13 22.0
Johnson County 6 32.4
Knox County 82 16.2
Lake County 0 —
Lauderdale County 8 32.6
Lawrence County 14 30.0
Lewis County 0 —
Lincoln County 8 21.8
Loudon County 10 16.0
Macon County 1 3.7
Madison County 27 26.9
Marion County 10 33.6
Marshall County 10 26.4
Maury County 14 12.2
McMinn County 16 28.2
McNairy County 3 11.5
Meigs County 4 28.6
Monroe County 5 10.1
Montgomery County 26 10.6
Moore County 4 58.6
Morgan County 7 31.7
Obion County 7 23.1
Overton County 5 21.2
Perry County 4 44.5
Pickett County 0 —
Polk County 7 38.0
Putnam County 10 11.8
Rhea County 3 8.6
Roane County 4 7.0
Robertson County 11 14.0
Rutherford County 44 11.6
Scott County 4 17.7
Sequatchie County 3 17.0
Sevier County 14 13.8
Shelby County 218 23.8
Smith County 8 38.5
Stewart County 6 41.7
Sullivan County 17 10.4
Sumner County 11 5.2
Tipton County 5 8.0
Trousdale County 2 16.4
Unicoi County 1 5.6
Union County 5 23.7
Van Buren County 0 —
Warren County 8 18.4
Washington County 11 7.9
Wayne County 5 31.2
Weakley County 4 12.0
White County 6 20.5
Williamson County 12 4.5
Wilson County 25 14.7

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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.