Truck accident statistics for Orange County, New York (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in Orange County by year

Truck accident deaths numbered 6 in 2020, 6 in 2021, 5 in 2022, 4 in 2023 and 6 in 2024. The highest count was shared by 2020, 2021 and 2024, while 2023 had the lowest count. Deaths were unchanged from 2020 to 2021, fell in 2022 and 2023, then rose in 2024. The 2020 and 2024 counts were the same.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The yearly share of all traffic deaths was 22.2% in 2020, 17.6% in 2021, 12.8% in 2022, 13.8% in 2023 and 15.4% in 2024. All traffic deaths numbered 27, 34, 39, 29 and 39 in those respective years. The highest truck accident death share occurred in 2020; the lowest occurred in 2022.^{[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 Orange County truck accidents

People in the large truck accounted for 6 deaths, or 22.2%. People in other vehicles accounted for 18 deaths, or 66.7%, the largest person category in the truck accident figures. The row "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" recorded 3 deaths, or 11.1%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

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

The trucks involved

The fatal truck accident records contain 28 large trucks for 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors, described in the table as semi or tractor-trailer units, numbered 13 and represented 46.4% of those trucks. Single-unit and other large trucks numbered 15. The records also identify 1 large truck as jackknifed.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

These are vehicle counts, distinct from the county's 26 fatal crashes and 27 deaths. A crash can involve multiple large trucks, so the truck count is not a count of separate accidents. The jackknife figure likewise counts trucks, not deaths or crashes.^{[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

By manner of collision, truck accident deaths were head-on, 10 (37.0%); rear-end, 6 (22.2%); angle (side impact), 3 (11.1%); and sideswipe, 1 (3.7%). "Not a collision with another moving vehicle" accounted for 7 deaths (25.9%). Manner of collision describes the first harmful event. That quoted row means no collision with a motor vehicle in transport, such as a rollover or striking a parked vehicle. A vehicle stopped in traffic can be in transport.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Separately, crash configuration recorded single-vehicle deaths at 6 (22.2%), two-vehicle deaths at 17 (63.0%), and deaths involving three or more vehicles at 4 (14.8%). These shares classify vehicle involvement rather than manner of collision.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Interstates, time of day and setting

Interstate truck accident deaths numbered 11, or 40.7%. The listed route-coded counts were 6 deaths on I-87, 4 on I-84 and 1 on I-86. These figures require an interstate route code and a readable interstate route number; the listed routes are a coded subset, not a full road network.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime accounted for 17 deaths (63.0%), and nighttime accounted for 10 (37.0%). The daytime window runs from 6 a.m. to 5:59 p.m.; nighttime runs from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m. Urban locations recorded 24 deaths (88.9%), while rural locations recorded 3 (11.1%). The work-zone count was 1 death.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck accident death rate compared with New York and the United States

Orange County's truck accident death rate was 1.3 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. That rate was higher than New York's 0.6 and lower than the national rate of 1.6. The corresponding death counts were 27 in Orange County, 610 in New York and 27,553 nationally. No neighboring county rates are supplied in the fact sheet.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

These rates divide deaths by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates for the period and multiply by 100,000. They do not adjust for miles driven or visitors. The county's 2024 population estimate of 415,088 is shown separately; that figure alone is not the denominator used for the rate.^{[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 traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and an occupant or nonoccupant dying within 30 days. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded. For readers searching "truck accident lawyer," these counts are grouped by crash location, not where the people killed lived.^[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 use summed annual Census population estimates from Vintage 2025, not the separate July 1, 2024 estimate, and express average annual deaths per 100,000 residents without adjustments for miles driven or visitors.^[9][6][7][8]