Car Accident Statistics

In 2005 there were 3,822 fatalities on the California roadways, and 198,708 reported injuries in motor vehicle accidents. Both California and the nation have shown modest decreases in the past few years in fatalities, but the numbers are not as dramatic as one would hope. In any five year period, more than 25% of all car drivers were involved in an accident.

As a nation, we average more than six million car accidents each year and over three million injuries. In all but a million of those cases, the injuries are permanent.

Here are some numbers for selected California cities:

City	Fatalities	Injuries	Driver	Passenger	Other*
Los Angeles	277	42,831	128	48	101
Beverly Hills	4	573	4	0	0
Riverside	36	3,417	12	17	7
Victorville	18	452	11	3	4
R. Cucamonga	16	958	9	3	4
Palm Springs	14	643	7	3	4
Modesto	23	2,147	10	5	8
Barstow	9	152	3	4	2
Bakersfield	33	1,857	18	5	10

* Includes pedestrian and bicyclists.

Alcohol was involved in 1,387 of the statewide 3,822 fatalities and in 20,581 of the injury cases. It is by far the largest contributor to accidents of all kinds, averaging about forty percent of all accidents. The next largest cause, speeding, accounts for thirty percent. Both of these are avoidable, if only drivers were more responsible.

In over half of the fatal accidents the deceased was not wearing a seat belt. For those under thirty, car accidents are the leading cause of death. Taken as a whole, someone dies from injuries sustained in an accident once every twelve minutes, and once every fourteen seconds someone is injured.

About half of all fatalities result from roadway departures, where the vehicle leaves the street or highway, although such accidents account for only one-third of all accidents. Approximately one-fifth of the accidents occurred at an intersection, with close to another ten percent involving large trucks.