Car Accident Statistics: California and Sacramento

Key numbers

• In 2024, 39,254 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the United States. That was a 4.3% decrease from 41,025 in 2023 (NHTSA).
• In 2024, NHTSA estimates that 2.42 million people were injured in U.S. traffic crashes, compared with 2.44 million in 2023.
• In 2024, 3,876 people died in traffic crashes in California. That was 293 fewer than in 2023, the largest drop of any state (NHTSA).
• In 2024, Sacramento County had 156 traffic deaths, down from 209 in 2023. Placer County had 40, down from 43 (NHTSA).
• In 2023, 4,214 people were killed or injured in crashes in the City of Sacramento. The state Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) ranked the city 2nd of 15 cities with more than 250,000 residents, where 1st is worst.
• In 2023, 787 people were killed or injured in crashes in Roseville. OTS ranked Roseville 27th of 62 cities with 100,001 to 250,000 residents.

National and California trend, 2020 to 2024

U.S. traffic deaths peaked in this period at 43,230 in 2021 and have fallen each year since. California's deaths peaked a year later, at 4,539 in 2022. By 2024 they had fallen to 3,876, a 7.0% drop from 2023.

California's 2024 death rate was 1.19 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. That matched the national rate of 1.19. California had about 10% of all U.S. traffic deaths in 2024 (calculated from NHTSA's counts: 3,876 of 39,254).

Injuries are counted differently. NHTSA estimates them from a national sample of police reports. Its 2024 estimate of 2.42 million injured was 0.8% lower than 2023, a change NHTSA says was not statistically significant.

Sacramento County, Placer County, Sacramento and Roseville

Two government sources describe local crashes. NHTSA reports traffic deaths by county. OTS counts everyone killed or injured, and ranks each city and county against others.

Sacramento County's 2024 count was 25% lower than its 2023 count, NHTSA's county table shows. In 2024, Sacramento County had 9.68 traffic deaths per 100,000 people and Placer County had 9.22. The statewide rate was 9.83.

In Sacramento County in 2024, 49 of the 156 people killed were pedestrians. Fifty-four died in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver, and 40 died in crashes involving a speeding vehicle.

In Placer County in 2024, 13 of the 40 people killed died in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver. Six were bicyclists or other cyclists, up from one in 2023.

Killed or injured in 2023: the OTS rankings

OTS publishes crash rankings each year from the statewide crash records system. The latest year it has published is 2023. Cities are ranked against cities of similar size. Counties are ranked against all 58 counties. In both, 1st is the highest, or worst.

In 2023, the City of Sacramento ranked 1st of 15 cities with more than 250,000 residents for fatal and injury crashes in which speed was the primary factor, with 745. It also ranked 1st of 15 for people killed or injured in alcohol-involved crashes, with 454.

In 2023, Roseville had 130 fatal and injury crashes in which speed was the primary factor, ranked 16th of 62. It had 42 hit-and-run fatal and injury crashes, ranked 45th of 62. Twenty-three people were killed or injured in crashes involving a pedestrian, ranked 60th of 62.

County numbers include all crashes on all roadways within county limits. OTS says its rankings are only indicators of potential problems.

Who is killed, and in what kinds of crashes

In California in 2024, 2,041 of the 3,876 people killed (53%) were inside vehicles. Another 1,090 (28%) were pedestrians, 522 (13%) were motorcyclists, and 163 (4%) were bicyclists or other cyclists (NHTSA).

NHTSA also counts deaths by the kind of crash. One death can fall in more than one group, so these do not add up to the total.

• In 2024, 2,335 people died in California single-vehicle crashes.
• In 2024, 1,592 people died in California crashes where a vehicle left the roadway.
• In 2024, 1,311 people died in California crashes involving a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.
• In 2024, 1,139 people died in California crashes involving at least one speeding vehicle.
• In 2024, 1,028 people died in California crashes at or near an intersection.
• In 2024, 755 of the 1,977 passenger vehicle occupants killed in California were not wearing a seat belt or using a child restraint. For 209 more, restraint use was unknown.

Time of day matters too. Nationally in 2024, 20,971 people died in crashes between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m., compared with 18,017 during daytime hours (NHTSA). Men made up 28,385 of the 39,254 deaths.

What California law says

• Stop at the scene. A driver in a crash that injures or kills another person must stop immediately at the scene (Vehicle Code § 20001(a)).
• Share information and help. That driver must give their name, address, vehicle registration number and the owner's name and address to the person struck or the other driver, and to any officer at the scene. The driver must also give reasonable help to anyone hurt, including arranging a ride to a doctor or hospital when treatment is clearly needed or the injured person asks (Vehicle Code § 20003(a)).
• Report an injury crash within 24 hours. A driver (other than of a common carrier vehicle) in a crash that injures or kills anyone must make, or cause to be made, a written report within 24 hours to the California Highway Patrol or, inside a city, to the CHP or the city police department (Vehicle Code § 20008(a)).
• Report to the DMV within 10 days. A driver must report a crash to the DMV within 10 days when anyone is injured or killed, or when property damage to any one person is over $1,000. The DMV form is the SR-1. An insurance agent, broker or legal representative may file it for the driver. No report is required if the vehicle was owned or leased by, or under the direction of, a government agency (Vehicle Code § 16000(a)-(b); DMV SR-1 page).
• Everyone must use ordinary care. California law makes a person responsible for injuries caused by their lack of ordinary care in managing their property or person, except so far as the injured person brought the injury on themselves, willfully or by their own lack of ordinary care (Civil Code § 1714(a)).
• Two years to file an injury lawsuit. An action for injury to, or the death of, a person caused by another's wrongful act or neglect must be filed within two years (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1).
• Six months for a claim against a public agency. A claim for death or personal injury against a public entity must be presented within six months after the cause of action accrues (Government Code § 911.2(a)).

These are general rules. How they apply depends on the facts of each crash.

What to do after a crash

• Call 911 if anyone is hurt, and stay at the scene.
• Exchange names, addresses, license, registration and insurance details with the other driver.
• Take photos of the vehicles, the road, any signs or signals, and your injuries.
• Make sure the crash is reported to the CHP or city police within 24 hours if anyone was hurt.
• File the DMV SR-1 within 10 days if anyone was hurt or killed, or property damage to any one person is over $1,000.
• See a doctor, even if you feel fine. The CDC says some concussion symptoms may not appear for hours or days after the injury.
• Keep every bill, record and receipt, and write down what you remember while it is fresh.

How the numbers are counted

Deaths come from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). FARS counts every crash on a public road that involves a motor vehicle and kills someone within 30 days. The 2024 numbers come from NHTSA's 2024 Annual Report File, which can change slightly when it becomes the Final File. For example, NHTSA's 2023 count rose from 40,901 to 41,025 when the 2023 file became final.

National injury counts are estimates from NHTSA's Crash Report Sampling System, a sample of police-reported crashes. Fatality counts are a full census.

County deaths and rates come from NHTSA's State Traffic Safety Information reports, which also use FARS. The reports run from 2020 to 2024.

The OTS rankings count "victims killed and injured," meaning deaths and injuries added together. Damage-only crashes are not included. OTS takes crash data from SWITRS, California's statewide crash records system, population from the Department of Finance and miles driven from Caltrans. It ranks with a statistical method called Empirical Bayes, which weighs crash counts, population and miles driven.

City rankings cover incorporated cities only. They include local streets and state highways inside city limits, but a crash on a shared road that the CHP reports does not count against the city.

Because NHTSA and OTS count different things, a county's NHTSA death count and its OTS killed-and-injured count should not be compared directly.