Truck accident statistics for Elkhart County, Indiana (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in Elkhart County by year

Truck accident deaths rose from 5 in 2020 to 8 in 2021, then fell to 6 in 2022 and 3 in 2023. The count rose to 6 in 2024. The highest count was 8 in 2021, and the lowest was 3 in 2023. The 2024 count was 1 death higher than the 2020 count.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The share of all traffic deaths attributed to truck accidents was 16.7% in 2020, 25.0% in 2021, 13.0% in 2022, 15.0% in 2023 and 18.8% in 2024. All traffic deaths reached their highest count of 46 in 2022, while the highest truck accident share occurred in 2021.^{[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 Elkhart County truck accidents

People in the large truck accounted for 5 deaths, or 17.9%. People in other vehicles accounted for 19 deaths, or 67.9%, the largest person category. The row "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" recorded 4 deaths, or 14.3%. These categories describe the people killed in the qualifying crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

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

The trucks involved

Fatal crashes in Elkhart County involved 28 large trucks from 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors (semi or tractor-trailer units) accounted for 18 trucks, or 64.3% of the large trucks recorded. Single-unit and other large trucks accounted for 10 trucks. The count of large trucks recorded as jackknifed was 2.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

These are vehicle counts, distinct from fatal crash counts and death counts. A truck accident can involve multiple large trucks. Readers searching for a truck accident lawyer should keep the trucks table's vehicle counts separate from the death counts reported elsewhere on this page.^{[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. Angle (side impact) recorded 14 deaths (50.0%), head-on 4 (14.3%), rear-end 4 (14.3%) and sideswipe 1 (3.6%). "Not a collision with another moving vehicle" recorded 5 deaths (17.9%). This means no collision with a motor vehicle in transport, with examples including a pedestrian, cyclist, parked vehicle, fixed object or rollover. A vehicle stopped in traffic can be in transport.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Separate crash configuration figures assign 5 deaths (17.9%) to single-vehicle crashes, 15 (53.6%) to two-vehicle crashes and 8 (28.6%) to crashes involving three or more vehicles. These shares classify truck accident deaths by the number of vehicles involved, separately from manner of collision.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Interstates, time of day and setting

Interstate-coded crashes accounted for 3 truck accident deaths, or 10.7%. The listed I-80 route count was 3 deaths. Interstate identification requires ROUTE=1 and a parseable interstate route number in TWAY_ID; the listed route is a coded subset, not a full road network.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime, from 6 a.m. to 5:59 p.m., accounted for 21 deaths (75.0%). Nighttime, from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., accounted for 7 deaths (25.0%). Urban locations recorded 8 deaths (28.6%), and rural locations recorded 20 deaths (71.4%). The work-zone figure was 1 death, a count of people killed rather than vehicles or crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck accident death rate compared with Indiana and the United States

Elkhart County's truck accident death rate was 2.7 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. Indiana's rate was 2.3, and the national rate was 1.6. The county rate was higher than both. The corresponding death counts were 28 for Elkhart County, 780 for Indiana and 27,553 for the United States. No neighboring county rates are supplied in the fact sheet.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

These rates use deaths at crash locations and annual population estimates. They do not adjust for miles driven or visitors. The rate therefore expresses average annual deaths relative to the population denominator, rather than deaths per distance traveled or a count limited to residents killed.^{[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 a census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Inclusion requires a motor vehicle on a trafficway customarily open to the public and an occupant or nonoccupant death within 30 days. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded. County counts follow crash location, not the home of the person killed.^[9][6][7][8]

The 2020 through 2023 figures use FARS Final Files; 2024 uses the revisable Annual Report File. Rates divide 2020 through 2024 deaths by summed annual Census Bureau population estimates from Vintage 2025 and multiply by 100,000. They measure average annual deaths per 100,000 residents without adjustments for miles driven or visitors. The separate July 1, 2024 estimate of 208,196 is not the rate denominator.^[9][6][7][8]