Fatal crash profile · State

Traffic deaths in West Virginia

Deaths, 2024: 256
Fatal crashes: 238
Population: 1.8M

In 2024, 256 people died in 238 fatal crashes in West Virginia. That was 1.5% fewer than in 2023 (260) and the fewest in any year since 1975. The death rate was 14.5 per 100,000 residents, compared with 11.5 in the United States. West Virginia had the 37th most traffic deaths of the 51 states and DC and the 16th-highest death rate. Pedestrians accounted for 10% of deaths, and 30% of fatal crashes were speeding-related.

Deaths

Traffic deaths

14.5

deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024

About 1.3 times the rate in the United States: 11.5

-2%

change in deaths from 2023 to 2024

260 deaths in 2023, 256 in 2024

The United States: -4%

Traffic deaths by year, 1975–2024

Category	Deaths	Fatal crashes
1975	461	401
1976	489	425
1977	514	450
1978	457	402
1979	512	446
1980	523	464
1981	410	354
1982	450	392
1983	425	379
1984	438	387
1985	420	368
1986	440	386
1987	471	418
1988	460	405
1989	468	406
1990	481	407
1991	414	371
1992	420	366
1993	429	370
1994	356	330
1995	376	346
1996	348	321
1997	381	343
1998	354	330
1999	395	354
2000	411	354
2001	376	355
2002	439	400
2003	394	362
2004	410	380
2005	374	347
2006	410	372
2007	432	387
2008	378	337
2009	357	325
2010	315	282
2011	338	320
2012	339	318
2013	332	305
2014	272	242
2015	268	246
2016	269	250
2017	304	280
2018	294	265
2019	260	247
2020	267	249
2021	282	259
2022	266	250
2023	260	233
2024	256	238

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	22.7
2001	20.9
2002	24.3
2003	21.7
2004	22.6
2005	20.5
2006	22.4
2007	23.6
2008	20.5
2009	19.3
2010	17.0
2011	18.2
2012	18.3
2013	17.9
2014	14.7
2015	14.6
2016	14.7
2017	16.7
2018	16.3
2019	14.5
2020	14.9
2021	15.8
2022	15.0
2023	14.7
2024	14.5

Uses Census population estimates, available from 2000.

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

Road users

Who died

10%

of deaths were pedestrians

About half the share in the United States: 18%

Who died in 2024

Category	Deaths
Vehicle occupants and others	188
Pedestrians	25
Motorcyclists	38
Cyclists	5

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Deaths by type, 2024
Type	Deaths	Share in West Virginia	Share in the US
Pedestrians	25	10%	18%
Motorcyclists	38	15%	16%
Cyclists	5	2%	3%
Alcohol-impaired driving crashes	78	30%	30%
Speeding-related crashes	78	30%	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

30%

of fatal crashes were speeding-related

About the same as the share in the United States: 28%

30%

of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver

About 1.2 times the share in the United States: 25%

Crash factors in 2024

Category	West Virginia	United States
Speeding-related	30.3%	24.8%
Alcohol-involved	30.3%	28.1%
At night	42.9%	53.6%
At weekends	35.7%	32.6%

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

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Timing

When crashes happen

43%

of fatal crashes happened at night

About 80 percent of the share in the United States: 54%

36%

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	20
1am	41
2am	29
3am	38
4am	18
5am	28
6am	43
7am	41
8am	32
9am	32
10am	49
11am	52
12pm	56
1pm	66
2pm	89
3pm	69
4pm	84
5pm	79
6pm	71
7pm	98
8pm	63
9pm	49
10pm	46
11pm	36

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by day of week

Category	Fatal crashes
Sun	167
Mon	158
Tue	163
Wed	168
Thu	174
Fri	197
Sat	202

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by month

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	94
Feb	78
Mar	88
Apr	98
May	95
Jun	112
Jul	117
Aug	126
Sep	97
Oct	108
Nov	99
Dec	117

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Conditions

Weather and light

Weather at the time of the crash

Category	Fatal crashes
Clear	914
Rain	136
Cloudy	122
Snow	21
Fog, Smog, Smoke	20
Sleet or Hail	8

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	712
Dark - Not Lighted	374
Dark - Lighted	85
Dusk	26
Dawn	24
Dark - Unknown Lighting	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

I-7739
I-7938
US-11936
US-5033
I-6431
US-6028
SR-1025
US-1923
SR-223
SR-1621

Road names as recorded in police reports.

Vehicles involved, by type

Category	Vehicles
Cars	533
SUVs	388
Pickup trucks	365
Medium and heavy trucks	200
Motorcycles	188
Other vehicles	108
Vans	50
Buses	5
Other light trucks	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.

Filter crashes

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 31, 2024	Glenhayes, Wayne County	US-52	1
Dec 31, 2024	Wood County	US-50 ROBERT C BYRD HWY	1
Dec 30, 2024	Braxton County	I-79	1
Dec 29, 2024	Summers County	SR-20	2
Dec 28, 2024	Morgantown, Monongalia County	US-119 GRAFTON RD	1
Dec 22, 2024	Berkeley County	I-81	2
Dec 14, 2024	Tornado, Kanawha County	CR-9/8 GORE ADDITION RD	1
Dec 14, 2024	St. Albans, Kanawha County	US-60	1
Dec 12, 2024	Martinsburg, Berkeley County	SR-9	1
Dec 11, 2024	Martinsburg, Berkeley County	CR-919 BAKER RD	1
Dec 11, 2024	Charles Town, Jefferson County	CR-17 FLOWING SPRINGS RD	1
Dec 10, 2024	Parkersburg, Wood County	SR-68 EMERSON AVE	1
Dec 10, 2024	Raleigh County	CR-11 SWEENEYBURG RD	1
Dec 9, 2024	Gap Mills, Monroe County	SR-3 SWEET SPRINGS VALLEY RD	1
Dec 7, 2024	Blue Creek, Kanawha County	WALGROVE RD	1
Dec 7, 2024	Weirton, Hancock County	SR-2 MAIN ST	1
Dec 4, 2024	Beaver, Raleigh County	I-64	1
Dec 3, 2024	Beckley, Raleigh County	I-77/64	1
Nov 30, 2024	Berkeley County	I-81	2
Nov 28, 2024	Maxwelton, Greenbrier County	US-219 SENECA TRAIL	1
Nov 28, 2024	Walker, Wood County	CR-47 STAUNTON TPK	1
Nov 26, 2024	Winfield, Putnam County	US-35	1
Nov 24, 2024	Arnoldsburg, Calhoun County	US-119/33	1
Nov 24, 2024	Marshall County	CR-250/4 ADAMS HILL RD	1
Nov 23, 2024	Parkersburg, Wood County	SR-14 MURDOCK AVE	1

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Nearby and related

Counties in West Virginia

Area	Deaths, 2024	Per 100,000
Barbour County	2	13.0
Berkeley County	21	15.4
Boone County	2	9.8
Braxton County	2	16.6
Brooke County	2	9.4
Cabell County	7	7.7
Calhoun County	2	33.7
Clay County	0	—
Doddridge County	0	—
Fayette County	2	5.2
Gilmer County	1	14.1
Grant County	1	9.1
Greenbrier County	6	18.8
Hampshire County	5	21.0
Hancock County	2	7.1
Hardy County	6	41.6
Harrison County	7	10.9
Jackson County	2	7.3
Jefferson County	11	17.9
Kanawha County	28	16.1
Lewis County	0	—
Lincoln County	4	20.7
Logan County	5	16.3
Marion County	3	5.4
Marshall County	6	20.5
Mason County	3	12.1
McDowell County	3	17.5
Mercer County	6	10.4
Mineral County	4	15.0
Mingo County	4	18.5
Monongalia County	15	13.9
Monroe County	1	8.0
Morgan County	1	5.6
Nicholas County	6	25.0
Ohio County	7	17.1
Pendleton County	2	33.9
Pleasants County	0	—
Pocahontas County	2	26.2
Preston County	2	5.9
Putnam County	4	7.0
Raleigh County	23	31.9
Randolph County	4	14.7
Ritchie County	4	49.2
Roane County	2	14.8
Summers County	6	51.8
Taylor County	2	12.1
Tucker County	0	—
Tyler County	2	25.3
Upshur County	2	8.5
Wayne County	5	13.3
Webster County	0	—
Wetzel County	2	14.5
Wirt County	0	—
Wood County	14	16.9
Wyoming County	3	15.0

Cities

Cities with at least 10 fatal crashes across the loaded years are listed.

Rankings

Nearby states

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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.

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	94
Feb	78
Mar	88
Apr	98
May	95
Jun	112
Jul	117
Aug	126
Sep	97
Oct	108
Nov	99
Dec	117

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	94
Feb	78
Mar	88
Apr	98
May	95
Jun	112
Jul	117
Aug	126
Sep	97
Oct	108
Nov	99
Dec	117

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	94
Feb	78
Mar	88
Apr	98
May	95
Jun	112
Jul	117
Aug	126
Sep	97
Oct	108
Nov	99
Dec	117