What is Alabama's road fatality rate?

Alabama has a road fatality rate of 19.1 per 100,000 population and 1.4 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 56.4% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Alabama in 2023?

In 2023, Alabama recorded 974 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 8,643.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Alabama?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 47.3% of all fatalities (4,086 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Alabama?

Road fatalities in Alabama are increasing with a +14.6% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 850 in 2015 to 974 in 2023.

How does Alabama compare to the national average for road safety?

Alabama's fatality rate of 19.1 per 100K is 56.4% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Alabama ranks #6 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Alabama's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 21.9% of road fatalities in Alabama, representing 1,889 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 26.7% and pedestrian incidents for 11.9%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Alabama?

In Alabama, rural roads account for more fatalities: 5,227 rural vs. 3,411 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 60.5% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Alabama: higher-rate fatality band

Alabama is in the higher per-capita third: 974 traffic deaths in 2023 at 19.1 per 100,000 (#6 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

974
Deaths (2023): 19.1
Per 100k residents: Well above average; 1.4
Per 100M VMT: -14
2022–2023 deaths

Higher per-capita fatality band

Alabama ranks #6 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (19.1/100k) - top-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Alabama in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Alabama sits in the higher-rate third at 19.1 per 100k (#6 of 51), 56% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#6 of 51
higher-rate third: 19.1/100k
2023 fatality rate: #14/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

974 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

60%

Rural 581 (59.7%)
Urban 390 (40.0%)
Trafficway Not in State Inventory 3 (0.3%)

NHTSA fatality milepost

Milepost AL · Alabama #6 of 51 · 19.1/100k

Alabama · 19.1/100k · 974 in 2023 · #6 of 51

BOOK 19.1/100k
ALC #6 of 51
SPD 1.4/100M
PED 8,643 book
RUR near Arkansas
VS-US 26.7% spd
PHOTO 11.9% ped
YOY +56.4% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

Road Safety Index

35/100

Alabama

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate F

19.1/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.35/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety B-

11.9%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control A-

21.9%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

+14.6%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Tree/fixed-object pattern in Alabama

Tree (Standing Only) is Alabama's top non-vehicle first-harm event in 2023 FARS (12.5%), pointing to roadside departure rather than intersection conflict. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 42.6% · 415
Tree (Standing Only) 12.5% · 122
Pedestrian 11.6% · 113
Rollover/Overturn 6.1% · 59
Ditch 3.9% · 38

Light condition

Daylight 43.8% · 427
Dark - Not Lighted 32.9% · 320
Dark - Lighted 16.7% · 163
Dawn 2.8% · 27
Dusk 2.8% · 27

Roadway class

County 27.7% · 270
State Highway 26.0% · 253
U.S. Highway 18.0% · 175
Interstate 14.1% · 137
Municipal 14.1% · 137

Weather at crash

Clear 75.1% · 731
Cloudy 14.8% · 144
Rain 8.1% · 79
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.5% · 15

Kentucky

18
Montana

18
Tennessee

19
Alabama

19
Arkansas

19
South Carolina

20

What this shows Alabama sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Nighttime

47
Unrestrained

46
Weather-Related

31
Speeding

27
Alcohol-Impaired

22
Pedestrian

12

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Alabama, involved in 47.3% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Alabama vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

19 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 10% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Alabama plotted against a representative sample of 27 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Alabama can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Alabama's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Alabama moved from 850 deaths in 2015 to 974 in 2023 (+14.6%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	850	16.6	243	236	98
2016	1,083	21.2	310	329	120
2017	948	18.6	246	256	119
2018	953	18.7	227	262	107
2019	930	18.2	254	216	119
2020	934	18.3	218	262	101
2021	983	19.2	126	274	127
2022	988	19.3	132	238	114
2023	974	19.1	133	234	124

Per-capita county spikes in Alabama: Conecuh and Winston

Fatalities are spread across 67 Alabama counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are Conecuh (71.6/100k) and Winston (55.1/100k), while volume still ranks Jefferson first.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	JEFFERSON (73)	778	112	86.4	↑ increasing
2	MOBILE (97)	612	89	68.0	↑ increasing
3	MADISON (89)	356	51	39.6	↑ increasing
4	MONTGOMERY (101)	316	38	35.1	↑ increasing
5	TUSCALOOSA (125)	305	31	33.9	↑ increasing
6	BALDWIN (3)	258	22	28.7	↑ increasing
7	LIMESTONE (83)	196	18	21.8	↑ increasing
8	CULLMAN (43)	193	22	21.4	↑ increasing
9	TALLADEGA (121)	182	21	20.2	↔ stable
10	SHELBY (117)	178	21	19.8	↔ stable
11	CALHOUN (15)	169	20	18.8	↑ increasing
12	ETOWAH (55)	162	20	18.0	↔ stable
13	ST. CLAIR (115)	159	20	17.7	↑ increasing
14	MARSHALL (95)	157	22	17.4	↑ increasing
15	WALKER (127)	156	11	17.3	↑ increasing
16	LEE (81)	155	25	17.2	↑ increasing
17	MORGAN (103)	147	14	16.3	↑ increasing
18	DEKALB (49)	141	11	15.7	↑ increasing
19	HOUSTON (69)	138	12	15.3	↔ stable
20	RUSSELL (113)	137	15	15.2	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 67 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, Arkansas (19.4/100k) and South Carolina (19.5/100k) sit closest to Alabama's 19.1 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Alabama's fatality rate.

Arkansas

19.4 per 100K

596 fatalities (2023)

South Carolina

19.5 per 100K

1,047 fatalities (2023)

Tennessee

18.6 per 100K

1,323 fatalities (2023)

Montana

18.4 per 100K

208 fatalities (2023)

Kentucky

18.0 per 100K

814 fatalities (2023)

Louisiana

17.7 per 100K

811 fatalities (2023)

Conecuh-rate peers and Alabama road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Alabama (#6 of 51; volume #14/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →