California Car Accident Statistics 2024

California families have a lot to get done each week and they often put in a lot of miles on local roads. Unfortunately, many of their trips will require getting out on busy and dangerous highways and freeways. Residents can be heading to work or running their children to school when they encounter a distracted driver or a speeding driver and end up in a scary collision.

California’s Latino and Hispanic drivers are just as vulnerable to these careless motorists. Abogados de Acero deals with the aftermath of many of these crashes and sees the devastation they can cause. We thought a visual reminder of the dangers we all face on local streets could help get all drivers to slow down and watch the lanes ahead.

National Traffic Accident Statistics Involving Latinos

The American Journal of Preventative Medicine (AJPM) reports that Latino drivers are responsible for around 16% of road miles driven in America each year. From 2016 to 2018, research showed that an average of around 3,300 Hispanic and Latino motorists lost their lives each year in traffic collisions.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) studied the serious accidents involving Hispanic drivers over five years. They found that leading into 2021, traffic fatalities were on the rise. 2020 saw 6,817 accidents involving Latino and Hispanic drivers. That made up around 17% of all U.S. traffic fatalities for the year. The tragic figure was almost 300 more fatalities than the year before.

There were 6,817 Latino-Hispanic victims in fatal accidents on U.S. roads in 2020.

Traffic Accidents Involving Hispanics in California

Of course, California is home to a much larger percentage of people who identify as Latino and Hispanic than the rest of the nation. According to the 2020 census, California’s population was made up of 40% of people of Latino and Hispanic heritage. That means a larger percentage of motorists will be Latino-Hispanic and there’ll be more tragic accidents involving those drivers.

It’s a significant risk for everyone in a state where traffic jams and aggressive drivers are way too normal.  According to the California Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), California suffered almost 19,500 accidents involving serious injuries or death in 2022. The state recorded 4,166 heartbreaking fatal crashes for the year. Those collisions resulted in almost 4,500 lives lost.

When the data is visualized over the past five years, it’s easy to see the upward trend. When 2023’s final statistics are totaled and made available, it will be critical to note if any improvement has been made.

California recorded 4,488 traffic fatalities in 2022.

 

California isn’t all freeways and city skylines either. There are just as many rural highways that pass through farms and groves. Of course, there will be fewer cars on these less traveled roads, but there are still plenty of accidents that occur along State Routes and mountain roads.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) examined the collisions that occur in the more urban areas of California and out in the country in places like the Central Valley, in Northern California, and along the coast. The rural areas accounted for about 30% of the accidents in 2021 across the state. That’s still a lot considering the size and activity found in our mega-cities.

70% of accidents in California in 2021 occurred on urban roads.

Latino-Involved Accidents in Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, around 50% of the population is either Latino or Hispanic. Driving anywhere across Los Angeles County can be a frightening experience, and plenty of motorists end up in accidents along a freeway or boulevard.

According to the SWITRS, Los Angeles County recorded 40,427 accidents involving injury in 2022.  And around 27,000 of those accidents involved Latino-Hispanic victims. Over the past five years, these incidents have been going down, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

There were 27,434 serious accidents involving Latino-Hispanic motorists in Los Angeles County in 2022.

Asking for Safer Roads in California in 2024 and Beyond

We can all wish for safe travels in 2024, but it takes a team effort to improve on our shocking accident rates documented each year. Drivers must put down their cell phones and pay attention to the lanes ahead. Cities and counties must do more to provide safe lanes for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. And the police and California Highway Patrol must take reckless drivers off the road and keep them off.

We must all do our part to turn freeways and rural highways into safe routes again.

Latino and Hispanic drivers can seek help after a car accident. Immigration and citizenship status do not affect your ability to demand assistance with paying hospital bills and supporting your family while you are out of work. The California car accident lawyers with Abogados de Acero offer a free case consultation to all victims. Contact us today to schedule a case review.