What is Delaware's road fatality rate?

Delaware has a road fatality rate of 13.1 per 100,000 population and 1.4 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 7.3% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Delaware in 2023?

In 2023, Delaware recorded 135 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 1,161.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Delaware?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 53.1% of all fatalities (616 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Delaware?

Road fatalities in Delaware are increasing with a +3.1% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 131 in 2015 to 135 in 2023.

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

Delaware's fatality rate of 13.1 per 100K is 7.3% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Delaware ranks #24 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Delaware's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 25.3% of road fatalities in Delaware, representing 294 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 27.0% and pedestrian incidents for 22.7%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Delaware?

In Delaware, urban roads account for more fatalities: 468 rural vs. 689 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 40.3% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Delaware: smaller FARS fatality book

Delaware holds a smaller FARS book (1,161 across 2015-2023, #43/51 by volume) with 135 deaths in 2023.

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

135
Deaths (2023): 13.1
Per 100k residents: Near average; 1.4
Per 100M VMT: -27
2022–2023 deaths

Smaller fatality book

Delaware ranks #43 of 51 by total FARS fatalities (1,161 across 2015-2023) - bottom-third book size.

Delaware in the smaller-book third

According to NHTSA FARS, Delaware carries a bottom-third fatality book (1,161 across 2015-2023, volume rank #43/51) at 13.1/100k.

#24 of 51
among US states by rate: 13.1/100k
2023 fatality rate: #43/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

135 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

62%

Urban 84 (62.2%)
Rural 49 (36.3%)
Trafficway Not in State Inventory 2 (1.5%)

NHTSA fatality milepost

Milepost DE · Delaware #24 of 51 · 13.1/100k

Delaware · 13.1/100k · 135 in 2023 · #24 of 51

MILE 13.1/100k
BAND #24 of 51
POST 1.4/100M
RATE 1,161 book
RANK near Indiana
VMT 27.0% spd
BOOK 22.7% ped
ALC +7.3% 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

33/100

Delaware

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 D

13.1/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.39/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety F

22.7%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control D

25.3%

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

Safety Trend F

+3.1%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Delaware

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Delaware's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 20.0%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. 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 38.5% · 52
Pedestrian 20.0% · 27
Tree (Standing Only) 9.6% · 13
Rollover/Overturn 5.9% · 8
Traffic Sign Support 4.4% · 6

Light condition

Daylight 37.8% · 51
Dark - Not Lighted 34.8% · 47
Dark - Lighted 17.0% · 23
Dark - Unknown Lighting 5.9% · 8
Dawn 3.7% · 5

Roadway class

State Highway 40.7% · 55
U.S. Highway 27.4% · 37
Not Signed 20.7% · 28
Interstate 6.7% · 9
County 2.2% · 3

Weather at crash

Clear 68.1% · 92
Cloudy 16.3% · 22
Rain 12.6% · 17
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.5% · 2

Colorado

12
Delaware

13
Indiana

13
Kansas

13
North Dakota

14
Oregon

14

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

Nighttime

53
Unrestrained

34
Weather-Related

27
Speeding

27
Alcohol-Impaired

25
Pedestrian

23

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Delaware, involved in 53.1% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Delaware vs all states by fatality rate

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

13 Around the middle a lower per-capita rate than 45% 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

Delaware plotted against a representative sample of 26 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.

Delaware 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 Delaware's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

On a smaller fatality book (#43/51), Delaware went from 131 in 2015 to 135 in 2023.

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	131	12.7	37	29	36
2016	119	11.5	38	32	27
2017	119	11.5	28	32	33
2018	111	10.8	28	33	23
2019	132	12.8	28	35	32
2020	116	11.2	27	32	25
2021	136	13.2	27	44	29
2022	162	15.7	43	46	31
2023	135	13.1	38	31	27

New Castle leads Delaware's county fatality book

New Castle County alone accounts for 48.4% of Delaware's 1,030 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (499 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Kent sits higher at 16.9/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	NEW CASTLE (3)	499	59	55.4	↑ increasing
2	SUSSEX (5)	313	44	34.8	↑ increasing
3	KENT (1)	218	32	24.2	↑ increasing

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Indiana and Kansas are the nearest fatality-rate neighbours to Delaware at 13.1 per 100k.

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

Indiana

13.1 per 100K

898 fatalities (2023)

Kansas

13.2 per 100K

387 fatalities (2023)

North Dakota

13.5 per 100K

106 fatalities (2023)

Oregon

13.9 per 100K

587 fatalities (2023)

Colorado

12.2 per 100K

720 fatalities (2023)

Idaho

14.0 per 100K

275 fatalities (2023)

New Castle County and related Delaware 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 Delaware (#24 of 51; volume #43/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →