Orange County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 199 deaths in 194 fatal crashes in Orange County in 2024.

FARS records 2,088 deaths in 1,982 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of California in the same years is 10.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Orange County was number 5 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in Orange County rose by 24.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (1,679) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (2,088).

In the counties of California the deaths rose by 17.5% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 2.8% of the fatal crashes in Orange County with a known setting were rural, against 29.9% in California.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.
The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.
NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on 1 Apr 2026. NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Deaths in Orange County by year, 2015 to 2024

183

204

210

206

182

193

230

250

231

199

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this county has a change on record.

Deaths and fatal crashes by year

Table 1.Orange County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	199	194	44
2023	231	217	62
2022	250	238	57
2021	230	221	67
2020	193	186	48
2019	182	166	47
2018	206	195	51
2017	210	194	55
2016	204	195	52
2015	183	176	57
2015 to 2024	2,088	1,982	540

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in Orange County by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 309 (1985)2024: 199

The columns with a stronger shade are the years 2015 to 2024.

Table 2.Orange County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	199	194
2023	231	217
2022	250	238
2021	230	221
2020	193	186
2019	182	166
2018	206	195
2017	210	194
2016	204	195
2015	183	176
2014	173	164
2013	186	166
2012	153	148
2011	140	128
2010	105	99
2009	154	141
2008	163	153
2007	194	179
2006	208	197
2005	203	189
2004	212	201
2003	213	197
2002	191	179
2001	205	185
2000	162	156
1999	175	159
1998	156	149
1997	175	168
1996	199	178
1995	173	161
1994	186	172
1993	199	185
1992	206	192
1991	214	194
1990	254	230
1989	289	273
1988	292	266
1987	305	280
1986	290	275
1985	309	282
1984	268	249
1983	253	231
1982	250	231
1981	273	262
1980	301	270
1979	294	271
1978	281	259
1977	282	251
1976	237	211
1975	208	194

Note: a count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2". A death is in FARS when it occurs in 30 days or less after the crash.

Rate for each 100,000 residents

Table 3.Orange County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Orange County	California	United States
2024	6.3	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.6	10.1	11.8

Note: the rate divides the deaths in the county by its residents. Persons who do not live in the county are in the deaths, not in the residents.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Orange County had 3,158,027 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Orange County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 1,982 fatal crashes	540	1,982 fatal crashes	27.2%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 1,982 fatal crashes	610	1,982 fatal crashes	30.8%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 756 occupant deaths with restraint use known	239	756 occupant deathswith restraint use known	31.6%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 2,088 deaths	689	2,088 deaths	33.0%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 2,088 deaths	122	2,088 deaths	5.8%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 2,088 deaths	364	2,088 deaths	17.4%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 1,980 fatal crashes with the condition reported	56	1,980 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	2.8%	29.9%
In the darkof 1,977 fatal crashes with the condition reported	1,202	1,977 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	60.8%	57.5%

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure, which uses a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. One crash can be in two or more rows. NHTSA's definitions

Note that alcohol data is often missing. For that reason, this data element may under-count the actual number of drinking drivers.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Weekday, time and road class

Table 5.Orange County: fatal crashes by weekday and time of day, 2015 to 2024
Weekday	Midnight to 6 a.m.	6 a.m. to noon	Noon to 6 p.m.	6 p.m. to midnight	All
Sunday	126	50	69	107	352
Monday	61	49	62	84	256
Tuesday	51	45	61	107	264
Wednesday	40	37	41	91	209
Thursday	65	42	59	96	262
Friday	68	34	62	123	287
Saturday	109	47	66	120	342
All days	520	304	420	728	1,972

Note: a cell with a stronger shade has a larger count. The table has the fatal crashes with a known hour and weekday.

Table 6.Orange County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	246	12.4%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	246	12.4%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	944	47.6%	30.1%
Minor arterial	361	18.2%	21.7%
Major collector	62	3.1%	12.3%
Minor collector	7	0.4%	2.3%
Local	116	5.9%	7.3%
Not reported	0	n/a	n/a

Note: the classes are those of the Federal Highway Administration. The shares are of the crashes with a reported class. Road function classes

Light condition and weather

Table 7.Orange County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	678
Dark, not lighted	174
Dark, lighted	1,012
Dawn	35
Dusk	62
Dark, lighting unknown	16
Other or unknown	5

Table 8.Orange County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	1,618
Cloudy	267
Rain	54
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	16
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	25

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Orange County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Orange	In all of California
Interstate 5	Interstate	146	1,337
Interstate 405	Interstate	86	256
Interstate 605	Interstate	11	119
State Route 1	State highway	63	502
State Route 22	State highway	38	42
State Route 29	State highway	1 or 2	113
State Route 33	State highway	1 or 2	134
State Route 39	State highway	89	116
State Route 55	State highway	49	49
State Route 57	State highway	42	70
State Route 71	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 74	State highway	22	208
State Route 91	State highway	76	253

Note: the table has each route with a page that has a fatal crash in the county, in name order. Local streets and county roads have no page. Their crashes are in the county totals. All routes in California

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.Orange County on the county map of California

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 1014 counties
10 to 14.99 counties
15 to 19.914 counties
20 to 29.913 counties
30 or more8 counties
Orange County: 6.6

The limits of the classes are the same for every state. A county with few residents can show a high rate from few deaths. A class is not a judgement of a county. The full map and the table of counties of California

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Orange County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Los Angeles County	California	778	7,783	7.8
Riverside County	California	289	3,065	12.5
San Bernardino County	California	350	3,509	16.1
San Diego County	California	303	2,735	8.3

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of California have a population nearest to that of Orange County. The list is for navigation and is in name order. The number is the deaths from 2015 to 2024.

Official channels

NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)NHTSA's query tool for FARS counts.
NHTSA FARS EncyclopediaNHTSA's tables of FARS data.
California Office of Traffic SafetyThe highway safety office of California.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Orange County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/orange/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

The address of this page does not change.

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Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 1975 to 2024. The factors use the vehicle and person files from 2015. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Map: Census Bureau cartographic boundary file, 2021 edition. Data to 31 Dec 2024. The figures are totals. No page of this site is about one crash or one person.

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

How many deaths did FARS record in Orange in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 1,679 deaths in Orange County from 2005 to 2014. It records 2,088 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Orange in 2024?

The rate of Orange County in 2024 was 6.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of California was 9.8. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in Orange had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 540 of 1,982 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. This count is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. NHTSA says that alcohol data is often missing, so the count may be too low.

How many fatal crashes did FARS record on signed routes in Orange?

13 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 625 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.