Fatal crash rate · California · Road

Fatal crashes on I-5 in California

Every fatal crash NHTSA coded to Interstate 5, also written as Golden State Fwy, Santa Ana Fwy, San Diego Fwy, in California, 2020 to 2024, with the year, the county and what the record says about each. Fatal crashes only, and a count, not a rate: the federal record has no traffic volume for a road.

I-5 in California2020 to 2024 · fatal crashes recorded by NHTSA

717fatal crashes over five years · 811 deaths

Over 2020 to 2024, NHTSA recorded 717 fatal crashes on I-5 in California, in which 811 people died. That is 4% of the 19,496 fatal crashes recorded in California in those years, about 143 a year. 70 of the 717 were coded to a ramp, frontage or service road of I-5 rather than the main lanes. In 2024, the latest year, 143 were recorded.

No rate. A county has residents and a state has vehicle-miles, so each gets a rate. A road has neither in any federal file: FHWA publishes no traffic volume per route, and FARS carries no length. The count says how many fatal crashes were coded to this road, not how dangerous a mile of it is or how it compares with another road.

Counted: FARS crashes 2020 to 2024 in California whose TWAY_ID or TWAY_ID2 begins I-5, with or without a local name (Golden State Fwy, Santa Ana Fwy, San Diego Fwy)
Share: 717 ÷ 19,496 fatal crashes in California = 4%

Every year, 2020 to 2024

Year	Fatal crashes on I-5	Deaths	Fatal crashes in California	Share
2020	132	143	3,673	4%
2021	170	195	4,196	4%
2022	153	172	4,218	4%
2023	119	137	3,826	3%
2024	143	164	3,583	4%

2024 is NHTSA’s Annual Report File and will be revised when the final file replaces it.

Where on I-5: by county, 2020 to 2024

The counties the crashes were coded to, alphabetical. A road’s count in a county depends on how many miles of it run there and how busy they are; the page does not rank the counties. Each name opens the county page with its own rate.

What the record says about those crashes, 2020 to 2024

Every figure is a count of the 717 fatal crashes NHTSA coded to I-5 in California over five years, from the fields FARS records. Nothing is estimated or inferred.

Road type	Crashes	Share
Interstate	711	99%
Other freeway or expressway	0	0%
Other principal arterial	5	1%
Minor arterial	1	0%
Major collector	0	0%
Minor collector	0	0%
Local road	0	0%
Unknown or not reported	0	0%
Rural	216	30%
Urban	500	70%

Time of day	Crashes	Share
Midnight to 5:59 am	275	38%
6 am to 11:59 am	89	12%
Noon to 5:59 pm	114	16%
6 pm to 11:59 pm	220	31%
Hour unknown	19	3%

Light	Crashes	Share
Daylight	207	29%
Dark, not lighted (or lighting unknown)	264	37%
Dark, lighted	219	31%
Dawn or dusk	27	4%
Unknown or not reported	0	0%

Day of week	Crashes	Share
Sunday	136	19%
Monday	86	12%
Tuesday	97	14%
Wednesday	87	12%
Thursday	87	12%
Friday	79	11%
Saturday	145	20%

Month	Crashes	Share
January	50	7%
February	52	7%
March	65	9%
April	53	7%
May	49	7%
June	68	9%
July	54	8%
August	76	11%
September	64	9%
October	70	10%
November	63	9%
December	53	7%

Weather	Crashes	Share
Clear	585	82%
Cloudy	93	13%
Rain	25	3%
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0	0%
Fog, smog or smoke	9	1%
Severe wind, blowing sand or other	5	1%
Unknown or not reported	0	0%

Involving	Crashes	Share
A pedestrian	183	26%
A bicyclist or other cyclist	7	1%
A speeding-related vehicle	220	31%
A driver police reported as drinking	169	24%
A large truck (over 10,000 lb)	145	20%
A motorcycle	79	11%
A hit-and-run vehicle	65	9%
A teen driver (15 to 19)	38	5%

Road type is FARS FUNC_SYS for the crash, which can differ from the route’s class where a crash was coded on a frontage road or ramp; speeding is any vehicle coded SPEEDREL 2 to 5; drinking is any driver coded DRINKING = 1 (police-reported, not a blood-alcohol test).

How this is counted

The road is the designation FARS wrote. Each crash in NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System names the trafficway it was on (TWAY_ID) and, at an intersection, a second one (TWAY_ID2). NHTSA standardises the route designation (I-45, US-59, SR-6) and the police often add a local name after it (I-45/NORTH FWY) or a ramp or frontage word. The page counts every crash whose designation is I-5, once, whatever followed it. Nothing else is matched: a crash coded only to a local street name is not here even if that street is this road.
Same number, another state, another road. I-5 in California is counted within California only. Where the route continues into a neighbouring state it has its own page there, and a State Route number means nothing outside its state.
Only roads with ten or more fatal crashes over 2020 to 2024 have a page. Fewer is too few to say anything, and the county page already lists the most-named roads in each county as the police wrote them.
No rate, no rank. The California page lists every numbered road in route order with its count and nothing else. Roads with more lanes, more miles or more traffic record more fatal crashes; the record cannot separate those from the road’s design.

Informational only, not professional advice. Last reviewed: October 2026. Data snapshot built 2026-10-30.

Other roads in California

I-8 115
I-10 348
I-15 325
I-40 55
I-80 236
I-105 41
I-110 83
I-205 14
I-210 53
I-215 111
I-280 60
I-405 133
I-580 97
I-605 60
I-680 74
I-710 56
I-805 59
I-880 82
SR-1 289
SR-2 36
SR-3 16
SR-4 129
SR-9 13
SR-12 54
SR-14 74
SR-15 17
SR-16 23
SR-17 24
SR-18 69
SR-20 85

In route order, first thirty; the full list is on the California page.