Truck accident statistics for Highlands County, Florida (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in Highlands County by year

Truck accident deaths rose from 8 in 2020 to 9 in 2021, then fell to 8 in 2022, 2 in 2023 and 1 in 2024. The highest count was 9 in 2021; the lowest was 1 in 2024. The 2024 count was 7 deaths lower than the 2020 count.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The share of all traffic deaths attributed to truck accidents declined each year: 29.6% in 2020, 22.0% in 2021, 21.6% in 2022, 14.3% in 2023 and 4.5% in 2024. All traffic deaths followed a different sequence, with counts of 27, 41, 37, 14 and 22 for those respective years. These annual figures count deaths at crash locations in Highlands County.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Deaths within 30 days in crashes on public roads. 2024 figures come from the FARS Annual Report File and can be revised.

Who died in Highlands County truck accidents

People in the large truck accounted for 5 deaths, or 17.9%. People in other vehicles accounted for 20 deaths, or 71.4%, the largest person category for truck accident deaths. The row "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" recorded 3 deaths, or 10.7%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

That quoted label represents the FARS nonoccupant grouping. It includes pedestrians, pedalcyclists, and other or unknown nonoccupants. The other category can include occupants of motor vehicles not in transport, such as parked vehicles, so the label is not a literal test of whether someone was outside a vehicle.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The trucks involved

Fatal truck accidents in Highlands County involved 24 large trucks during 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors, described in the table as semi or tractor-trailer units, accounted for 19 trucks and 79.2% of the large trucks recorded. Single-unit and other large trucks accounted for 5 trucks. The count of large trucks recorded as jackknifed was 0.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

These are vehicle counts, distinct from both fatal crash counts and death counts. A truck accident can involve multiple large trucks. The truck-tractor share therefore describes the vehicles in the trucks table, rather than the share of people killed.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

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

How the fatal truck crashes happened

Manner of collision describes the first harmful event. Head-on recorded 10 deaths (35.7%); Angle (side impact), 8 (28.6%); Rear-end, 2 (7.1%); and Sideswipe, 1 (3.6%). "Not a collision with another moving vehicle" recorded 7 deaths (25.0%). That row means no collision with a motor vehicle in transport, which can be stopped in traffic. Examples include striking a pedestrian, cyclist, parked vehicle or fixed object, or a rollover.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Separate crash configuration figures assign 6 truck accident deaths (21.4%) to single-vehicle crashes, 18 (64.3%) to two-vehicle crashes and 4 (14.3%) to crashes involving three or more vehicles. Those shares describe vehicle involvement, separately from manner of collision.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Interstates, time of day and setting

The interstate classification recorded 0 truck accident deaths, a 0.0% share. It requires the interstate route code and a parseable interstate route number in the road identifier. No individual interstate route counts are listed in the packet; the route-coded figures do not describe the full road network.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime, from 6 a.m. to 5:59 p.m., accounted for 18 deaths (64.3%). Nighttime, from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., accounted for 10 (35.7%). Urban and rural classifications each recorded 14 deaths (50.0%). Work-zone records accounted for 2 deaths, a count of people killed rather than trucks or crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck accident death rate compared with Florida and the United States

The Highlands County truck accident death rate was 5.3 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. Florida's rate was 1.6, and the national rate was 1.6. The county rate was higher than both. These rates divide deaths by the sum of annual population estimates and do not adjust for miles driven or visitors.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Among the listed neighboring counties, rates were 2.9 in Polk County, 1.9 in Osceola County, 2.5 in Charlotte County and 12.4 in DeSoto County. Highlands County's rate was higher than Polk, Osceola and Charlotte and lower than DeSoto. For readers searching for a truck accident lawyer, the counts remain grouped by crash location.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Rates divide deaths by the sum of annual Census population estimates, so they show deaths per 100,000 residents per year. They do not adjust for miles driven or for visitors.

About these figures

FARS is NHTSA's 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. Counts use the county where the crash happened, not where those killed lived. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded.^[9][6][7][8]

The 2020 through 2023 figures use FARS Final Files. The 2024 Annual Report File can change when replaced by the Final File. Rates divide 2020 through 2024 deaths by summed annual Census Bureau population estimates, Vintage 2025, then multiply by 100,000. The separately displayed July 1, 2024 estimate of 109,892 is not the denominator. Rates do not adjust for miles driven or visitors.^[9][6][7][8]

See also

• Truck accident statistics for Charlotte County, Florida (2020-2024)