California Fatal Truck Accident Statistics
California has a lower rate of fatal accidents than one might expect in a heavily populated state with multiple metropolitan areas. It has 8.11 deaths per 100,000 population as compared to the US average of 10.92.
The number of deaths where a truck was involved has increased only slightly since 2011. In that year, utility trucks had the most fatalities with pickup trucks following a close second. In 2015, the two categories switched with pickup trucks leading fatalities and utility trucks in second place.
Pickup trucks saw a decrease in the number of fatalities from 2011 until 2015. In 2011, there were 252 deaths while the numbers went down to a low of 209 in 2014 before increasing to 286 in 2015. Utility truck-related fatalities were at 274 in 2011 and dropped down to 241 in 2013 before rising in 2014 with 271. The number of deaths continued to rise in 2015 with 279.
Van-related deaths have increased from 73 in 2011 to 81 in 2015 with similar drops in the years between. Large trucks account for just one percent of road deaths, and the numbers have gone down from 42 in 2011 to 31 in 2015.
As expected, the larger metropolitan areas have the most fatal accidents involving large trucks. Los Angeles County saw 43 of those fatalities in 2015, which was down from previous years. Other counties with higher numbers include Kern County and San Bernardino County.
Los Angeles County also led the number of fatalities for light trucks with San Bernardino County, Kern, and Fresno counties right behind. Los Angeles County has seen a drop in the number of truck fatalities while the other counties have held steady over recent years. For the large number of vehicles on the road in California, the state has a better record for truck deaths than what might be expected.