Truck accident statistics for Lehigh County, Pennsylvania (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in Lehigh County by year

Annual truck accident deaths were 7 in 2020, 4 in 2021, 5 in 2022, 4 in 2023 and 6 in 2024. The highest count was 7 in 2020; the lowest count, 4, occurred in both 2021 and 2023. The 2024 count was 1 death lower than the 2020 count.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The yearly shares of all traffic deaths were 21.9% in 2020, 13.3% in 2021, 16.1% in 2022, 15.4% in 2023 and 18.8% in 2024. All traffic deaths for those years were 32, 30, 31, 26 and 32, respectively. These shares describe truck accident deaths within each year's traffic death count, rather than the share of crashes involving trucks.^{[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 Lehigh County truck accidents

People in the large truck accounted for 6 deaths, or 23.1%. People in other vehicles accounted for 14 deaths, or 53.8%, the largest person category. The row "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" recorded 6 deaths, or 23.1%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

That quoted label represents the FARS nonoccupant grouping: pedestrians, pedalcyclists and other or unknown nonoccupants. It is not a literal test of whether someone was outside a vehicle; the other category can include occupants of parked motor vehicles. The truck accident death count therefore includes several person categories, rather than only people in large trucks.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The trucks involved

The fatal crashes involved 24 large trucks during 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors, identified as semi or tractor-trailer units, accounted for 19 trucks and 79.2% of the large trucks counted. 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 the 21 fatal crashes and 26 truck accident deaths. A crash can involve multiple large trucks, so the trucks table describes vehicles involved in fatal crashes rather than a separate crash or death for each truck.^{[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) accounted for 6 deaths, head-on for 2, rear-end for 7 and sideswipe for 2. "Not a collision with another moving vehicle" accounted for 9 deaths. This 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]}

Separately, crash configuration groups truck accident deaths by vehicle count: single-vehicle crashes accounted for 7 deaths (26.9%), two-vehicle crashes for 11 (42.3%), and crashes involving three or more vehicles for 8 (30.8%). Configuration and manner of collision describe different aspects of a crash.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Interstates, time of day and setting

Interstate-coded crashes accounted for 10 truck accident deaths, or 38.5%. The listed route-coded counts were 9 deaths on I-78 and 1 on I-476. These figures require ROUTE=1 and a readable interstate route number in TWAY_ID; the listed routes are a coded subset, not a full road network.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime accounted for 17 deaths (65.4%), compared with 9 (34.6%) at nighttime. Urban locations recorded 19 deaths (73.1%), while rural locations recorded 7 (26.9%). Work-zone crashes accounted for 4 deaths. Each of these figures counts deaths in truck accidents, not trucks or fatal crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck accident death rate compared with Pennsylvania and the United States

Lehigh County's truck accident death rate was 1.4 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents, compared with Pennsylvania's 1.3 and the United States rate of 1.6. The county rate was higher than the state rate and lower than the national rate.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Among the listed neighboring counties, Berks County had the same rate as Lehigh County at 1.4. Schuylkill County's rate was 3.5, while Montgomery County and Bucks County each had a rate of 0.6. These rates use deaths from 2020 through 2024 and the sum of annual Census population estimates. They do not adjust for miles driven or visitors. When reading with "truck accident lawyer" in mind, keep the crash-location grouping distinct from the population basis of 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 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. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded. Counts follow the county where the crash happened, not where the people who died lived.^[9][6][7][8]

The 2020 through 2023 records are Final Files; 2024 uses the revisable Annual Report File. Rates divide deaths by summed annual Census Bureau population estimates from Vintage 2025 and multiply by 100,000. The separately shown July 1, 2024 population of 382,939 is not the denominator; the rate uses the annual estimates for the reporting period.^[9][6][7][8]

See also

• Truck accident statistics for Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (2020-2024)
• Truck accident statistics for Berks County, Pennsylvania (2020-2024)
• Truck accident statistics for Bucks County, Pennsylvania (2020-2024)