Asheville · Crash numbers
Asheville and Buncombe County Traffic Crash Statistics
In the NCDMV's most recently posted crash book, for 2024, Asheville shows more than four thousand crashes, and Buncombe County's 2024 death count sits above the ten-year average printed beside it. Those counts describe the city and the county. They say nothing about who was at fault in your crash.
People killed in crashes, Buncombe County
| 2024 | 47 |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 44 |
| Yearly average, 2014 to 2023 | 32 |
I took each figure below from the 2024 Crash Facts edition posted by the NCDMV, the most recent one its archive offers for download. I keep the numbers in the tables and use the paragraphs to say what they mean for a person hurt in Asheville.
The sections below give Asheville's 2024 row, what the city table does and does not define, the alcohol, pedestrian and bicycle columns, Buncombe County deaths across eleven years, school bus crashes, and where the 2025 figures stand.
01
Asheville's row in the 2024 City Crash Data table
Section 4 of the Crash Facts for 2024 carries Asheville's city line: 4,507 crashes, 21 fatalities and 1,461 injuries in the All group.
For scale, the book's 2024 General Crash Picture puts North Carolina at 284,546 traffic crashes, with 1,732 persons killed and 113,602 persons injured statewide. The statewide summary calls those figures persons killed and persons injured, while the city table labels its columns Fatalities and Injuries.
The crashes figure counts events and the other two count people, so the three Asheville numbers do not add together. One crash on an Asheville street can put several people in the injuries column at once.
| 2024 figure | Asheville, City Crash Data | North Carolina, General Crash Picture |
|---|---|---|
| Crashes | 4,507 | 284,546 |
| Fatalities or persons killed | 21 | 1,732 |
| Injuries or persons injured | 1,461 | 113,602 |
02
What the Asheville city table counts, and what it never defines
Twelve numeric columns sit beside every city in that Section 4 listing: Crashes, Fatalities and Injuries, given once each under All, Alcohol, Pedestrian and Bicycle. Nowhere does the listing explain how a crash gets attributed to Asheville rather than a neighboring place.
Asheville's row gives totals tied to a place name. It does not break out Parkway crashes, parking lot crashes or crashes just over a neighboring town line.
The table reports crashes in one column and fatalities and injuries in the next two. I read the Asheville row as background for a case and never as a measure of one.
Exception. The Alcohol, Pedestrian and Bicycle groups are the only breakdowns the city table gives for Asheville. Road, time of day and vehicle type do not appear anywhere in the Asheville row.
03
Alcohol, pedestrian and bicycle crashes in Asheville during 2024
Asheville's 2024 row shows 57 pedestrian crashes carrying 4 fatalities and 60 injuries, 15 bicycle crashes carrying 1 fatality and 13 injuries, and 153 alcohol crashes carrying 2 fatalities and 80 injuries.
| Asheville, 2024 | Crashes | Fatalities | Injuries |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 4,507 | 21 | 1,461 |
| Alcohol | 153 | 2 | 80 |
| Pedestrian | 57 | 4 | 60 |
| Bicycle | 15 | 1 | 13 |
Those three groups sit next to All on one line, and nothing printed with the listing says whether one crash may be counted under two of them. A person on foot and a person on a bike each land in a small group with its own count.
In the Asheville row the Pedestrian group carries four of the city's fatalities on far fewer crashes than the All group. That pattern is what the table prints, and it is not a finding about any one pedestrian crash in the city. A pedestrian crash in a column of 57 is still one complete case to the person it happened to.
A pedestrian crash in a column of 57 is still one complete case to the person it happened to.
04
Buncombe County traffic deaths from 2014 through 2024
Forty-seven people died in Buncombe County traffic crashes in 2024, the county ten-year fatality trend in the Crash Facts shows, up from 44 in 2023; the 10 Year Average printed in that row is 32. Add the Buncombe figures for 2014 through 2023, divide by ten and round, and the result is 32, so the 2024 count is not inside that average.
| Buncombe year | Fatalities printed |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 31 |
| 2015 | 38 |
| 2016 | 23 |
| 2017 | 33 |
| 2018 | 33 |
| 2019 | 30 |
| 2020 | 27 |
| 2021 | 21 |
| 2022 | 35 |
| 2023 | 44 |
| 2024 | 47 |
The 2024 figure for Buncombe County is the highest of the eleven years in the table. Every one of those deaths was a person, and none of the counts tells a family what happened in its own crash.
The county row covers all of Buncombe County, which takes in Asheville and the five other municipalities the county lists, as well as the roads between them. Families facing a fatal Buncombe County crash can turn next to our page on wrongful death claims.
05
Buncombe County school bus crashes and the 2025 numbers
Buncombe County recorded 19 school bus crashes during 2024, with no fatalities and 8 injuries, in the book's county-by-county school bus table.
| Buncombe school bus figure, 2024 | Count |
|---|---|
| Crashes | 19 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 8 |
The 2025 Crash Facts by email request
No Crash Facts edition newer than 2024 appears on the NCDMV archive page. For the 2025 edition, the NCDMV asks people to email operations-support@ncdot.gov, which is why no 2025 Asheville row appears here.
Every Asheville and Buncombe County figure on this page is a 2024 figure, read from the edition the NCDMV currently posts.
06
What Asheville crash numbers cannot settle for an injured person
Asheville's crash totals tell you how many collisions, deaths and injuries were reported in the city, and they contain no decision on fault for a single one of them. Fault in your crash turns on the facts of that crash, and a city total carries none of them.
The record that matters to you is the report written about your own crash, along with what the people who saw it can say. To get that document free from the city, follow the steps for requesting an Asheville crash report.
How our opening call works, plus the visit that comes after, is on the Asheville city page.
Questions
Common questions
Does the Asheville crash count include the Blue Ridge Parkway?
The listing leaves that open. Asheville gets a single row, and no footnote says how a crash is matched to a city. As a result, the page does not show whether a Parkway crash close to town is in that row or only in Buncombe County's numbers.
Why does Buncombe County show more deaths than Asheville?
The Buncombe County figure counts fatalities across the whole county, including the other towns and the roads outside any city limits. Asheville's 21 comes from one city's row, while the county's 47 takes in all of Buncombe, so the county figure is bigger.
Where do Asheville crash numbers for 2025 come from?
The NCDMV says people can get the 2025 edition by writing to operations-support@ncdot.gov. Its archive page offers nothing past 2024 for download, and every figure on this page comes from the 2024 book.
About the attorney
Julian Doby, attorney since 1998
Julian Doby has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1998, North Carolina State Bar No. 25407, and he represents injured people across the state. His one office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. He meets clients across the state after a first conversation by phone or video.
More about JulianSources and verification (5)
- NCDMV, North Carolina 2024 Traffic Crash Facts, Section 4 City Data, City Crash Data table, page 26, verified October 18, 2026.
- Buncombe County Government, Municipalities, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Facts Archive, editions 2004 to 2024, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Facts page (2025 report by email request; DMV-349 crash report forms), verified October 18, 2026.
- City of Asheville, Police reports (Asheville Police Department), verified October 18, 2026.
Talk first. Then I can come to you.
Call or send a visit request. We start by phone or video.