2022 California Car Accident Fatality Statistics
Motor vehicle accidents are a top cause of death in the United States. In California, thousands of people lose their lives and suffer life-changing injuries annually in automobile accidents. Keeping track of the latest crash data and statistics can help spread awareness and prevent these tragedies in the future. Below is a summary of car accident fatality statistics that are available for 2022.
Estimated California Traffic Deaths in 2022
State and federal safety organizations are currently still gathering information and calculating 2022’s exact car accident numbers. Early estimates, however, show an increase in California’s number of car accident fatalities as compared to 2021. Below are the estimates given for California car accident fatalities in 2022 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
- The estimated number of motor vehicle traffic fatalities in California for 2022 is 4,407.
- The 2022 estimated fatality rate (fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled) in California is 1.80.
- The total number of car accident fatalities nationwide is estimated to be 42,939 for 2022.(Up from 39,508 in 2021)
- California is second on the list of states in terms of traffic accident deaths in 2022, behind only Texas with 4,496 deaths.
Car accidents are consistently a top cause of unintentional injury death for Californians year by year. Preliminary data shows that 2022 appears to be no exception, with a higher death rate than 2021. Motor vehicle accidents can cause catastrophic injuries such as spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and internal organ damage. Sadly, victims may not always be able to recover from these injuries.
Fatal Car Accident Trends in California vs. Nationwide
All around, the number of fatal car accidents in California has increased in the last few years. Traffic deaths in California increased by approximately 7.6 percent from 2020 to 2021, from 3,980 to 4,285. They increased again, according to 2022’s estimates, by 2.8 percent from 2021 to 2022. Fatal collisions in the California-Arizona-Hawaii region increased by 5 percent. This region was only behind the Vermont-Maine-New Hampshire-Massachusetts-Rhode Island region (8 percent) in terms of traffic death increases.
Despite the numbers increasing in California, the United States as a whole saw a small decrease in traffic death rates in 2022 (0.34 percent). There were 42,795 fatalities in 2022 compared to 42,939 in 2021. This decrease occurred even with a measured increase in the number of vehicles on the road in 2022. California was far from the only state that saw an increase; 23 states are projected to have experienced increases in car accident deaths in 2022 as compared to 2021.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Fatal Car Accidents in California?
Fatal car accidents are often caused by human errors, such as careless driver mistakes. Just one lapse in judgment or moment of inattention by a driver could result in a devastating fatal car crash. Some of the most common causes of deadly traffic accidents in California are:
- Speeding
- Impaired driving (drugs and/or alcohol use)
- Distracted driving
- Traffic law violations
- Failing to yield the right-of-way
- Aggressive driving
- Reckless driving
- Drowsy driving
- Dangerous road conditions
If you lost a loved one in a fatal car accident in California, contact Rose, Klein & Marias, LLP about a potential wrongful death claim as soon as possible. We can help your family by investigating the cause of the fatal collision, identifying the defendant(s), filing your claim and pursuing just financial compensation for your losses.