Fatal crash rate · Tennessee · Road
Fatal crashes on I-40 in Tennessee
Every fatal crash NHTSA coded to Interstate 40 in Tennessee, 2020 to 2024, with the year, the county and what the record says about each. Fatal crashes only, and a count, not a rate: the federal record has no traffic volume for a road.
I-40 in Tennessee2020 to 2024 · fatal crashes recorded by NHTSA
345fatal crashes over five years · 386 deaths
Over 2020 to 2024, NHTSA recorded 345 fatal crashes on I-40 in Tennessee, in which 386 people died. That is 6% of the 5,874 fatal crashes recorded in Tennessee in those years, about 69 a year. 30 of the 345 were coded to a ramp, frontage or service road of I-40 rather than the main lanes. In 2024, the latest year, 66 were recorded.
- Counted
- FARS crashes 2020 to 2024 in Tennessee whose TWAY_ID or TWAY_ID2 begins I-40
- Share
- 345 ÷ 5,874 fatal crashes in Tennessee = 6%
Every year, 2020 to 2024
| Year | Fatal crashes on I-40 | Deaths | Fatal crashes in Tennessee | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 80 | 90 | 1,119 | 7% |
| 2021 | 80 | 86 | 1,229 | 7% |
| 2022 | 56 | 64 | 1,214 | 5% |
| 2023 | 63 | 72 | 1,219 | 5% |
| 2024 | 66 | 74 | 1,093 | 6% |
2024 is NHTSA’s Annual Report File and will be revised when the final file replaces it.
Where on I-40: by county, 2020 to 2024
The counties the crashes were coded to, alphabetical. A road’s count in a county depends on how many miles of it run there and how busy they are; the page does not rank the counties. Each name opens the county page with its own rate.
- Benton County 3
- Cheatham County 9
- Cocke County 9
- Cumberland County 18
- Davidson County 41
- Decatur County 1
- Dickson County 9
- Fayette County 12
- Haywood County 17
- Henderson County 5
- Hickman County 9
- Humphreys County 9
- Jefferson County 10
- Knox County 46
- Loudon County 4
- Madison County 17
- Putnam County 19
- Roane County 10
- Sevier County 9
- Shelby County 52
- Smith County 12
- Williamson County 2
- Wilson County 22
What the record says about those crashes, 2020 to 2024
Every figure is a count of the 345 fatal crashes NHTSA coded to I-40 in Tennessee over five years, from the fields FARS records. Nothing is estimated or inferred.
| Road type | Crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Interstate | 334 | 97% |
| Other freeway or expressway | 1 | 0% |
| Other principal arterial | 9 | 3% |
| Minor arterial | 0 | 0% |
| Major collector | 1 | 0% |
| Minor collector | 0 | 0% |
| Local road | 0 | 0% |
| Unknown or not reported | 0 | 0% |
| Rural | 144 | 42% |
| Urban | 201 | 58% |
| Time of day | Crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Midnight to 5:59 am | 86 | 25% |
| 6 am to 11:59 am | 58 | 17% |
| Noon to 5:59 pm | 92 | 27% |
| 6 pm to 11:59 pm | 96 | 28% |
| Hour unknown | 13 | 4% |
| Light | Crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Daylight | 152 | 44% |
| Dark, not lighted (or lighting unknown) | 105 | 30% |
| Dark, lighted | 76 | 22% |
| Dawn or dusk | 11 | 3% |
| Unknown or not reported | 1 | 0% |
| Day of week | Crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 62 | 18% |
| Monday | 47 | 14% |
| Tuesday | 40 | 12% |
| Wednesday | 49 | 14% |
| Thursday | 46 | 13% |
| Friday | 46 | 13% |
| Saturday | 55 | 16% |
| Month | Crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| January | 19 | 6% |
| February | 25 | 7% |
| March | 24 | 7% |
| April | 30 | 9% |
| May | 25 | 7% |
| June | 32 | 9% |
| July | 33 | 10% |
| August | 42 | 12% |
| September | 28 | 8% |
| October | 29 | 8% |
| November | 22 | 6% |
| December | 36 | 10% |
| Weather | Crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Clear | 265 | 77% |
| Cloudy | 27 | 8% |
| Rain | 40 | 12% |
| Snow, sleet or freezing rain | 2 | 1% |
| Fog, smog or smoke | 2 | 1% |
| Severe wind, blowing sand or other | 0 | 0% |
| Unknown or not reported | 9 | 3% |
| Involving | Crashes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| A pedestrian | 57 | 17% |
| A bicyclist or other cyclist | 1 | 0% |
| A speeding-related vehicle | 42 | 12% |
| A driver police reported as drinking | 69 | 20% |
| A large truck (over 10,000 lb) | 138 | 40% |
| A motorcycle | 33 | 10% |
| A hit-and-run vehicle | 27 | 8% |
| A teen driver (15 to 19) | 23 | 7% |
Road type is FARS FUNC_SYS for the crash, which can differ from the route’s class where a crash was coded on a frontage road or ramp; speeding is any vehicle coded SPEEDREL 2 to 5; drinking is any driver coded DRINKING = 1 (police-reported, not a blood-alcohol test).
How this is counted
- The road is the designation FARS wrote. Each crash in NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System names the trafficway it was on (
TWAY_ID) and, at an intersection, a second one (TWAY_ID2). NHTSA standardises the route designation (I-45,US-59,SR-6) and the police often add a local name after it (I-45/NORTH FWY) or a ramp or frontage word. The page counts every crash whose designation is I-40, once, whatever followed it. Nothing else is matched: a crash coded only to a local street name is not here even if that street is this road. - Same number, another state, another road. I-40 in Tennessee is counted within Tennessee only. Where the route continues into a neighbouring state it has its own page there, and a State Route number means nothing outside its state.
- Only roads with ten or more fatal crashes over 2020 to 2024 have a page. Fewer is too few to say anything, and the county page already lists the most-named roads in each county as the police wrote them.
- No rate, no rank. The Tennessee page lists every numbered road in route order with its count and nothing else. Roads with more lanes, more miles or more traffic record more fatal crashes; the record cannot separate those from the road’s design.
Informational only, not professional advice. Last reviewed: October 2026. Data snapshot built 2026-10-30.
Other roads in Tennessee
- I-24 181
- I-26 25
- I-55 18
- I-65 76
- I-75 99
- I-81 30
- I-240 59
- I-840 30
- SR-10 13
- SR-13 16
- SR-14 49
- SR-18 14
- SR-22 23
- SR-25 14
- SR-30 14
- SR-33 25
- SR-36 10
- SR-39 11
- SR-45 26
- SR-46 13
- SR-48 29
- SR-49 14
- SR-50 19
- SR-52 15
- SR-53 16
- SR-55 13
- SR-56 15
- SR-57 11
- SR-58 22
- SR-60 11
In route order, first thirty; the full list is on the Tennessee page.