District of Columbia truck accident statistics (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in District of Columbia by year

Annual truck accident deaths were 1 in 2020, 1 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 1 in 2023 and 1 in 2024. Their respective shares of all traffic deaths were 2.8%, 2.4%, 9.4%, 2.3% and 2.1%. The highest death count occurred in 2022; 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024 tied for the lowest count. The supplied change from 2020 to 2024 was 0 deaths.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The District's displayed share of the national large-truck death total was 0.1% in 2022 and 0.0% in each other listed year. Across 2020 through 2024, its share was 0.0% of the national 27,553 deaths. All traffic deaths were 36, 41, 32, 44 and 47 in chronological order. The 2024 truck accident figures remain subject to revision when NHTSA publishes the final file.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

2024 figures come from the FARS Annual Report File and can be revised when NHTSA publishes the final file.

Who died in District of Columbia truck accidents

People in the large truck accounted for 3 deaths, or 42.9%, while people in other vehicles accounted for 0 deaths, or 0.0%. The row "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" recorded 4 deaths, or 57.1%, the largest death count among the listed rows.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

That quoted label represents the FARS nonoccupant grouping: pedestrians, pedalcyclists and other or unknown nonoccupants. Its other category can include occupants of parked motor vehicles. The label therefore does not establish that every person in this truck accident category was physically outside a vehicle.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The trucks involved

Fatal truck accidents in the District of Columbia involved 8 large trucks during 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors accounted for 1 truck, or 12.5%. The single-unit and other large trucks category recorded 7 trucks. These are vehicle counts, distinct from the number of fatal crashes and the number of people killed.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

Large trucks over 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating numbered 4, representing 50.0% of the large trucks counted. There were 0 trucks recorded as jackknifed and 0 trucks carrying hazardous materials. A fatal crash can involve multiple large trucks, so the truck total is not interchangeable with the crash total.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

Counts are trucks, not crashes. One crash can involve more than one large truck.

Interstates and crash types

Interstate truck accident deaths numbered 1, or 14.3% of the District's large-truck crash deaths during 2020 through 2024. The interstate measure requires the FARS interstate route classification and a parseable interstate route number. Work-zone deaths numbered 1; that figure counts people killed, rather than trucks or crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

No interstate segment met the 20-death threshold for a listed route. The table's threshold row displays 0 for large-truck crash deaths and 0 for all route deaths. Those entries do not replace the interstate total or describe the full road network.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

How District of Columbia compares with the national rate

The District of Columbia's average annual truck accident death rate was 0.2 per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. The United States rate was 1.6, making the District's rate lower in this comparison. The corresponding death counts were 7 for the District and 27,553 nationally; these counts and the population-based rates are separate measures.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Each rate divides deaths during the period by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates, then multiplies by 100,000. The estimates use Vintage 2025. The District's July 1, 2024 population estimate of 691,310 is shown separately and is not the denominator. No adjustment is made for miles driven or visitors. A search for a truck accident lawyer should keep these population-based figures distinct from crash counts.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Manner of collision and setting

Manner of collision classifies the first harmful event. "Not a collision with another moving vehicle" means no collision with a motor vehicle in transport, which can be stopped in traffic: 5 deaths. Rear-end and sideswipe each recorded 1; angle and head-on each recorded 0.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime recorded 3 deaths; nighttime recorded 4. Urban deaths numbered 7; rural deaths numbered 0. Separately, crash configuration recorded single-vehicle deaths of 5, two-vehicle deaths of 2, and 0 for three or more vehicles. Configuration counts vehicles involved; it is distinct from manner of collision.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck occupant deaths by crash configuration

Among people in the large truck who died, 1 death occurred in a single-vehicle crash and 2 occurred in multiple-vehicle crashes. These figures describe truck occupants only. They are a subset of truck accident deaths, excluding the deaths counted in the nonoccupant category.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

About these figures

District of Columbia figures use NHTSA FARS, a census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Inclusion requires a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and an occupant or nonoccupant death within 30 days. State and county crash-location fields determine geography, rather than where those killed lived. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded.^[9][6][7][8]

Records for 2020 through 2023 are Final Files; 2024 uses the revisable Annual Report File. Rates use summed annual Census population estimates, Vintage 2025, multiplied into a per 100,000 measure after dividing deaths by that population sum. The separate July 1, 2024 estimate is not the denominator. Rates do not adjust for mileage or visitors.^[9][6][7][8]