Ohio truck accident statistics (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in Ohio by year

Annual truck accident deaths were 149 in 2020, 220 in 2021, 213 in 2022, 167 in 2023 and 174 in 2024. Their shares of Ohio traffic deaths were 12.1%, 16.2%, 16.7%, 13.4% and 15.0%, respectively. Deaths were highest in 2021 and lowest in 2020; the share was highest in 2022. The 2024 death count was 25 higher than in 2020.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Ohio's shares of national large-truck deaths were 3.0%, 3.8%, 3.6%, 3.0% and 3.3% in chronological order. The national share was highest in 2021, with 2020 and 2023 tied for lowest. Across the period, Ohio accounted for 3.3% of the national 27,553 deaths.^{[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 Ohio truck accidents

People in the large truck accounted for 138 deaths, or 15.0%, while people in other vehicles accounted for 697, or 75.5%. The row labeled "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" recorded 88 deaths, or 9.5%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

That label denotes the FARS nonoccupant grouping, including pedestrians, pedalcyclists and other or unknown nonoccupants. It is not a literal test of being outside a vehicle: the other category can include occupants of parked motor vehicles. People in other vehicles represented the majority of Ohio truck accident deaths.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The trucks involved

Ohio's fatal crashes involved 900 large trucks during 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors accounted for 523 trucks, or 58.1%. The single-unit and other large trucks category counted 377. These are vehicle counts, separate from the number of truck accident deaths or fatal crashes; a crash can involve multiple large trucks.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

Large trucks over 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating numbered 673, representing 74.8% of the large trucks counted. Records identified 25 large trucks as jackknifed and 24 as carrying hazardous materials. Each figure describes trucks involved in fatal crashes, rather than a count of people killed in those crashes.^{[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 281 in Ohio during 2020 through 2024, representing 30.4% of the state's large-truck crash deaths. The listed route-coded subset recorded 60 large-truck crash deaths on I-75, 56 on I-71, 50 on I-70 and 41 on I-80.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

All traffic deaths on those routes were 139, 135, 89 and 72, respectively. Those route totals are distinct from deaths involving large trucks. The listed routes do not represent the full road network. Separately, work-zone truck accident deaths numbered 44; that figure counts deaths rather than crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Counties with the most truck accident deaths

Among the listed counties, Franklin County had the highest truck accident death count, 54, with an average annual rate of 0.8 per 100,000 residents. Cuyahoga County recorded 48 deaths and 0.8; Montgomery County recorded 39 and 1.5; Hamilton County recorded 35 and 0.8; Lucas County recorded 30 and 1.4.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Wayne County had the highest rate among the listed counties, 3.3, with 19 deaths. County death counts and rates measure different things. These rows are a supplied subset, and rates with small death counts are sensitive to each death.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Up to 15 counties with the most deaths in the period, largest first. Rates for counties with few deaths change sharply with each death.

How Ohio compares with the national rate

Ohio and the United States each recorded an average annual truck accident death rate of 1.6 per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. The corresponding death counts were 923 and 27,553. Equal displayed rates do not mean equal death counts.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

The denominator sums the annual Census Bureau population estimates for the period, using Vintage 2025, rather than using only Ohio's 2024 population of 11,860,621. Deaths divided by that summed population, multiplied by 100,000, produce the average annual rate. The measure does not adjust for mileage or visitors. Keep this grouping in mind when searching for a truck accident lawyer.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Manner of collision and setting

Manner of collision describes the first harmful event. "Not a collision with another moving vehicle" recorded 211 deaths and means no collision with a motor vehicle in transport, which can be stopped in traffic. Angle collisions recorded 296 deaths.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime truck accident deaths numbered 636; nighttime deaths numbered 287. Urban deaths numbered 443, rural deaths 478, and land use was unreported for 2. Separately, crash configuration recorded 134 deaths in single-vehicle crashes, 606 in two-vehicle crashes and 183 in crashes involving three or more vehicles.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck occupant deaths by crash configuration

Among people in the large truck who died in Ohio, 69 died in single-vehicle crashes and 69 in multiple-vehicle crashes during 2020 through 2024. Those equal counts describe truck occupants only. They are distinct from the counts covering everyone killed in truck accidents.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

About these figures

Ohio's FARS records cover fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes on trafficways customarily open to the public, with an occupant or nonoccupant dying within 30 days. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded. State and county assignments follow recorded crash locations, not the homes of those killed.^[9][6][7][8]

The 2020 through 2023 records are Final Files; 2024 uses the Annual Report File, subject to revision when finalized. Rates use summed annual Census population estimates and do not adjust for mileage or visitors. The separately displayed July 1, 2024 population is not the rate denominator.^[9][6][7][8]

See also

• I-70 truck accidents in Ohio (2020-2024)
• I-71 truck accidents in Ohio (2020-2024)
• I-75 truck accidents in Ohio (2020-2024)
• I-80 truck accidents in Ohio (2020-2024)

On related publications

• Ohio car accident statistics (2020-2024) (caraccidentlawyers.wiki)
• Truck accident statistics for Franklin County, Ohio (2020-2024) (truckaccidentlawyer.wiki)
• Truck accident statistics for Cuyahoga County, Ohio (2020-2024) (truckaccidentlawyer.wiki)
• Truck accident statistics for Montgomery County, Ohio (2020-2024) (truckaccidentlawyer.wiki)