California Ranks #39 in the Nation for Large Truck Crash Rate.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• California records an average of 2.84 large truck crashes per 100,000 licensed truck drivers.

• California’s crash rate is 40% below the national average of 4.71 and less than half of Texas’s (6.85) — a state with 8.6 million fewer licensed drivers.

• California’s crash count peaked at 864 in 2021 and has declined each year since, reaching 735 in 2023 — 1.9% below the 2019 baseline of 749.

California’s #39 national ranking reflects an outcome that raw crash data would not predict. With 27,742,348 licensed truck drivers — the largest pool in the country — California generates 789 crashes per year on average in absolute terms. But measured against the driver base, the per-driver rate of 2.84 places California well below the national average and in the lower third of all states. 

According to an analysis by Michael T. Gibson, P.A., Orlando Car Accident Lawyer, large truck crash exposure varies dramatically across all 50 U.S. states. The analysis drew on crash data from the Crash Data Analysis Network (CDAN) and driver licensing figures from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), calculating an average crash rate per 100,000 licensed truck drivers across a five-year period from 2019 to 2023. Using a five-year average smooths year-to-year volatility and produces a more reliable measure of structural risk at the state level.

California’s Crash Rate of 2.84 per 100,000 Truck Drivers Ranks 39th in the Nation

California’s average crash rate of 2.84 per 100,000 licensed truck drivers places it 39th nationally, 0.09 points behind Minnesota (2.93) at rank 38 and 0.12 points ahead of Maine (2.72) at rank 40. Its driver pool of 27,742,348 is over six times larger than Minnesota’s (4,152,710), yet its per-driver rate is comparable — a direct demonstration of how scale and infrastructure interact to shape structural risk.

California vs. Its Neighboring States and Texas: Crash Rate Per 100,000 Licensed Truck Drivers

California’s per-driver rate is lower than every state that borders it: Oregon (4.19), Arizona (4.22), and Nevada (3.58) all record higher rates. The Texas comparison illustrates the study’s central finding about scale and structural risk: California has 8.6 million more licensed truck drivers than Texas, yet its crash rate of 2.84 is less than half of Texas’s 6.85. Different road environments, haul distances, and freight patterns produce fundamentally different per-driver outcomes, regardless of pool size.

Looking at the study, Michael T. Gibson, Lead Attorney & President at Michael T. Gibson P.A., Orlando Car Accident Lawyer, commented,

“These numbers tell us that two truck drivers can have identical records and still face very different odds depending on which state they operate in. When crash rates are this much higher in certain states, it raises serious questions about road design, enforcement, and what happens to injury victims when those structural risks go unaddressed.”

California Annual Large Truck Crash Count: 2019–2023

California’s crash trend mirrors a national pattern with one notable distinction. After a flat 2020 (752 crashes, 0.4% above 2019), crashes jumped 14.9% to 864 in 2021. A modest 2.2% decline to 845 in 2022 was followed by a sharper 13.0% drop to 735 in 2023. At 735, the 2023 count is 1.9% below the pre-pandemic baseline of 749 in 2019 — making California one of the few states in the national dataset where a 2023 count falls below its 2019 starting point, suggesting meaningful structural improvement over the study period.

How California’s Rate Compares to the Highest-Risk States: The National Spectrum

California’s rate of 2.84 is less than a quarter of Wyoming’s (11.15) — the #1 state — and less than half of Texas’s (6.85), which ranks ninth despite having 8.6 million fewer licensed drivers. The national gap between the highest-risk states in the South and Mountain West and California reflects fundamentally different structural operating environments: rural long-haul corridors with limited highway redundancy on one side, and dense urban freight networks with concentrated infrastructure investment on the other.

Methodology

This analysis calculated average large truck crash rates per 100,000 licensed truck drivers across all 50 U.S. states, a metric that adjusts for driver exposure and avoids the distortions produced by raw crash totals alone. The U.S. maintains the Crash Data Analysis Network (CDAN), which provides ​crash figures. Crash figures came from the Crash Data Analysis Network (CDAN), and licensed driver counts came from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Data spans five calendar years, 2019 to 2023, with annual figures averaged to reduce the influence of single-year fluctuations. Rankings reflect structural risk at the state level and are not a measure of total crash volume; a state with fewer drivers but a high rate can rank above a high-population state with a lower rate.

Data Sources

• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA): https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2023/
• Crash Data Analysis Network (CDAN): https://cdan.dot.gov/query
• Research Dataset: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lxOq7G0QEOE38gBO5917rYZ_scH6U2I5ljHFtWg_RaM/edit?gid=0#gid=0
• Research by: https://autojusticeattorney.com/

About Michael T. Gibson, P.A., Orlando Car Accident Lawyer

The study was conducted by Michael T. Gibson, P.A., Orlando Car Accident Lawyer, a law firm that represents car accident victims across Central Florida with nearly three decades of proven results. Based in Orlando, the firm combines professional excellence with personalized attention and has secured millions in compensation for clients injured by negligent drivers.

Website: https://autojusticeattorney.com/

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