San Diego Truck Accident Statistics 2026

Truck crashes in San Diego County have trended upward over the past decade. In 2024, law enforcement reported 412 truck-involved crashes that injured or killed someone, the highest total in the 2014 through 2024 dataset and about 38 percent more than in 2014.

The figures below come from the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS), accessed through the Transportation Injury Mapping System maintained by UC Berkeley SafeTREC. The data covers San Diego County crashes from 2014 through the first quarter of 2026 that a reporting officer flagged as involving a big truck and injuries or death.

How Many Truck Accidents Happen in San Diego County?

From 2014 through 2024, San Diego County averaged about 354 injury or fatal truck crashes a year, nearly one every day.

The longer-term trend is upward. The five years from 2020 through 2024 averaged 373 crashes annually, compared with 324 a year from 2014 through 2018.

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Injuries and Deaths

The 3,890 truck crashes from 2014 through 2024 resulted in 174 deaths and 5,163 injuries. Classified by the most serious injury suffered by anyone involved:

• 163 crashes killed at least one person.
• 303 crashes caused a suspected serious injury, a category that includes injuries such as broken bones, internal injuries, and severe head trauma.
• 1,285 crashes caused a visible or minor injury.
• 2,139 crashes caused a possible injury or complaint of pain.

In other words, about 12 percent of San Diego County truck crashes killed someone or caused a suspected serious injury. These crashes can lead to lengthy hospital stays, surgery, rehabilitation, and lasting physical limitations. That is one reason truck accident injuries can affect someone long after the crash itself.

Of the 174 people killed, 102 were drivers, 35 were pedestrians, 31 were passengers, 4 were bicyclists, and 2 were other road users.

Only 179 of the 3,890 crashes involved a pedestrian, fewer than 5 percent, yet pedestrians accounted for 20 percent of the deaths. The same vulnerability appears in San Diego pedestrian crash data generally, but the disparity is even greater when a truck is involved.

Where Truck Accidents Happen in San Diego County

Truck crashes in San Diego County are primarily a freeway problem. About 58 percent occurred on or near a state highway, and four freeways account for about 43 percent of all truck crashes in the county.

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Interstate 15 sits at the top of the list. It is a major freight route connecting the border region with the Inland Empire and points beyond, and it crosses steep grades through Escondido and into Riverside County. Interstate 5 carries commercial traffic along the coast and connects San Diego with the border region. Together, I-15 and I-5 account for more than a quarter of all truck crashes in the county.

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Escondido stands out among the incorporated cities. It sits at the junction of Interstate 15 and State Route 78, two of North County’s busiest transportation corridors, and recorded more truck crashes than any city outside San Diego itself.

When Truck Accidents Happen

San Diego County truck crashes are concentrated during the workweek and during daytime hours.

• About 84 percent happen Monday through Friday. Thursday and Friday have the highest totals, while Sunday has the fewest.
• Roughly 70 percent happen between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• The busiest period is late morning through midafternoon. The six-hour window from about 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. accounts for nearly 39 percent of crashes.

That pattern generally tracks when commercial freight and delivery activity is heaviest. It also provides useful context for one common assumption about truck crashes: they are not primarily late-night events involving exhausted drivers.

What Causes Truck Accidents in San Diego County?

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Unsafe speed does not necessarily mean exceeding the posted speed limit. It can also mean driving too fast for traffic, weather, roadway, or vehicle conditions.

Commercial trucks are also subject to a lower statewide speed limit. Under California Vehicle Code § 22406, a truck with three or more axles, or a vehicle towing another vehicle, generally may not exceed 55 miles per hour even where passenger cars are permitted to travel 65 or 70. A qualifying truck traveling 68 mph in a 70 mph zone is still speeding.

California law also restricts the lanes used by vehicles subject to the 55 mph limit. Under Vehicle Code § 22348(c), those vehicles must generally use a designated lane or the right-hand lane, subject to specified exceptions. Lane position and lane changes can therefore become important evidence when investigating a sideswipe or merging crash.

Alcohol was involved in 441 crashes, about 11 percent of the total. Another 260 crashes, roughly 7 percent, were hit-and-run collisions.

Who Officers Found at Fault

Among crashes in which the reporting officer identified an at-fault party, the truck driver was assigned fault in about 42 percent. Someone else was assigned fault in about 58 percent, most often the driver of a passenger vehicle.

The “at fault” field in SWITRS reflects the reporting officer’s assessment of the primary cause of the collision. It is not a legal determination of liability. Officers generally make that assessment shortly after the crash, without access to all of the evidence that may later become available. A more complete truck accident investigation can uncover facts that were not available when the initial report was prepared.

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Among the 163 crashes that killed someone, rear-end collisions still ranked first with 58. But truck-pedestrian collisions ranked second with 30 fatal crashes, despite accounting for only 3.3 percent of truck crashes overall.

Broadside collisions accounted for 19 fatal crashes, sideswipes for 17, and head-on collisions for 14. The type of truck collision often shapes both the injuries involved and the evidence needed to determine what happened.

How San Diego Compares to Los Angeles and Riverside Counties

Raw crash totals do not tell the whole story because the three counties have very different populations. Using 2020 Census population figures and the same 2014 through 2024 period produces a more useful comparison:

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San Diego County has the lowest per-capita truck crash rate of the three. Riverside County’s rate is nearly twice San Diego’s, at 20.6 crashes per 100,000 residents per year compared with 10.7. Los Angeles County’s rate is about 68 percent higher than San Diego’s.

Riverside County also has the highest truck crash death rate. Its rate of 1.11 deaths per 100,000 residents per year is more than twice San Diego’s 0.48. Interstate 10 accounts for a substantial share of those fatalities: from 2014 through 2024, the Riverside County portion of I-10 had 1,085 truck crashes and 83 deaths, representing 28 percent of the county’s truck crash deaths.

Los Angeles County has more crashes but a lower death rate per crash. It has the highest raw crash total and a higher per-capita crash rate than San Diego, but the lowest fatality rate per 100 crashes of the three counties, at 3.4. San Diego falls in the middle: fewer crashes per resident than either neighboring county, but a higher death rate per crash than Los Angeles.

The Deadliest Truck Corridors in Southern California

The table below compares major truck corridors in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Riverside Counties by deaths per 100 crashes. Only routes with at least 150 truck crashes from 2014 through 2024 are included.

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Three of the five major corridors with the highest deaths per 100 crashes are in San Diego County. Interstate 5, Interstate 15, and Interstate 8 each have a higher death rate per 100 crashes than any qualifying Los Angeles County freeway in the comparison. State Route 57 is the highest-ranking Los Angeles corridor at 4.2 deaths per 100 crashes.

The data is consistent with a familiar traffic-safety pattern: heavy congestion may produce more collisions while limiting vehicle speeds, while higher-speed corridors may have fewer crashes but more severe outcomes when collisions occur. San Diego’s two primary freight routes, I-5 and I-15, fall on the more severe side of that comparison.

How Hulburt Law Firm Can Help

If you or someone in your family was hurt in a truck accident in San Diego County, the statistics on this page describe broader patterns. They do not tell you what caused a particular crash.

That requires examining the evidence: the truck’s electronic data, the driver’s logs, maintenance and inspection records, dispatch information, company policies, and other evidence that may show what happened and why. Preserving that evidence early can make a significant difference.

If a truck crash took someone you love, a wrongful death claim involves its own legal issues and deadlines.

Call (619) 821-0500 or message us through our contact form for a free, confidential case review. There is no fee unless we win.