Truck accident statistics for Smith County, Texas (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in Smith County by year

Truck accident deaths were unchanged at 7 in 2020 and 7 in 2021, then rose to 12 in 2022 and 13 in 2023. The count fell to 10 in 2024. The highest count was 13 in 2023; the lowest count was 7, recorded in both 2020 and 2021. The 2024 count was 3 deaths higher than the 2020 count.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The annual share of traffic deaths involving a large truck was 12.3% in 2020, 11.1% in 2021, 22.2% in 2022, 18.1% in 2023 and 18.9% in 2024. Thus, the highest truck accident death count occurred in 2023, while the highest share occurred in 2022. All traffic deaths numbered 57, 63, 54, 72 and 53 in those respective years.^{[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 Smith County truck accidents

People in the large truck accounted for 7 deaths, or 14.3%. People in other vehicles accounted for 38 deaths, or 77.6%, the largest share of truck accident deaths. The row "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" accounted for 4 deaths, or 8.2%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

That quoted label identifies 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. The label therefore does not require that every person counted was physically outside a vehicle.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The trucks involved

Fatal crashes in Smith County involved 45 large trucks during 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors (semi or tractor-trailer units) numbered 23, representing 51.1% of those trucks. Single-unit and other large trucks numbered 22. The count of large trucks recorded as jackknifed was 0.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

These figures describe vehicles involved in fatal crashes. They are distinct from the 41 fatal crashes and 49 truck accident deaths recorded during the period. A crash can involve multiple large trucks, so the vehicle count is not a count of separate crashes or 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. Angle (side impact) accounted for 21 deaths, head-on for 6, rear-end for 8, sideswipe for 2 and other for 2. "Not a collision with another moving vehicle" accounted for 10 deaths. This means no collision with a motor vehicle in transport, such as striking a pedestrian, cyclist, parked vehicle or fixed object, or a rollover. A vehicle in transport can be stopped in traffic.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Separately, crash configuration groups truck accident deaths by the number of vehicles involved: single-vehicle crashes accounted for 7 deaths (14.3%), two-vehicle crashes for 31 (63.3%) and crashes involving three or more vehicles for 11 (22.4%).^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Interstates, time of day and setting

Interstate-coded truck accident deaths numbered 8, or 16.3%, with 8 recorded for I-20. These figures require interstate route coding and a readable interstate route number. The listed route counts represent the packet's route-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 36 deaths (73.5%); nighttime, from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., accounted for 13 (26.5%). Urban locations accounted for 19 deaths (38.8%), and rural locations accounted for 30 (61.2%). The work-zone figure was 1 death. These location and time figures count deaths, rather than trucks or crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck accident death rate compared with Texas and the United States

Smith County's truck accident death rate was 4.1 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. That was higher than the Texas rate of 2.5 and the United States rate of 1.6. Gregg County, the listed neighboring county, had a rate of 3.8 and 24 deaths during the period, compared with Smith County's 49 deaths.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

These rates divide deaths at crash locations by the sum of annual population estimates and express the result per year. They do not adjust for miles driven or visitors, and they do not identify the people killed as county residents. The population measure supplies a denominator for comparing truck accident death rates across the listed areas.^{[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. For readers searching for a truck accident lawyer, these counts are grouped by crash location, not the deceased person's residence.^[9][6][7][8]

The 2020 through 2023 figures use FARS 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 estimate of 249,529 is not the rate denominator.^[9][6][7][8]

See also

• Truck accident statistics for Gregg County, Texas (2020-2024)

On related publications

• Car accident statistics for Smith County, Texas (2020-2024) (caraccidentlawyers.wiki)