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Edition: FARS 2024, annual fileNHTSA released it on Release dates

Interstate 5 fatal crashes in California

California: all countiesCite this page

FARS records 1,337 fatal crashes with 1,526 deaths on Interstate 5 in California from 2015 to 2024.

In 2024 it records 143 fatal crashes with 164 deaths on the route.

By fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024, Interstate 5 was number 1 of the 119 routes of California with a page.

Fatal crashes on Interstate 5 rose by 23.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (1,084) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (1,337).

In California they rose by 18.9% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, pedestrians were 20.3% of the deaths on Interstate 5 and 26.0% 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 .

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

Figure 1.Fatal crashes on Interstate 5 in California by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

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

Fatal crashes by year

Table 1.Interstate 5 in California: fatal crashes and deaths by year, 2000 to 2024
YearFatal crashesDeaths
2024143164
2023118136
2022151169
2021169194
2020131142
2019120137
2018138172
2017130147
2016121141
2015116124
201498114
20138192
20128495
201188100
201097114
2009105122
2008105123
2007122143
2006145172
2005159191
2004141167
2003162194
2002160184
2001160190
2000162181

Note: the route is the trafficway that FARS records for the crash. The records of routes start in 2000. A count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2".

Counties on the route

Table 2.Interstate 5: fatal crashes on the route in each county, 2015 to 2024, in name order
CountyOn the routeOn all roads of the county
Colusa County2169
Fresno County501,394
Glenn County2768
Imperial County3274
Kern County1011,630
Kings County19243
Los Angeles County2457,312
Merced County40526
Orange County1461,982
Riverside County52,860
Sacramento County1081,633
San Bernardino County133,191
San Diego County2642,565
San Joaquin County1181,128
Shasta County45306
Siskiyou County39125
Stanislaus County33751
Tehama County29150
Yolo County31251

Note: the table has the counties where FARS records a fatal crash on the route in these years.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 3.Interstate 5 in California: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
FactorCountCounted amongShareShare on all roads of California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 1,337 fatal crashes3791,337 fatal crashes27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 1,337 fatal crashes4321,337 fatal crashes30.2%
Pedestriansof 1,526 deaths3101,526 deaths26.0%
Motorcyclistsof 1,526 deaths1591,526 deaths14.1%

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. One crash can be in two 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 .

Time of day

Table 4.Interstate 5 in California: fatal crashes by time of day, 2015 to 2024
Time of dayFatal crashesShareShare on all roads of California
Midnight to 6 a.m.51639.6%24.2%
6 a.m. to noon20615.8%16.3%
Noon to 6 p.m.20916.0%23.6%
6 p.m. to midnight37228.5%35.9%

Note: the table has the fatal crashes with a known hour.

Mile ranges

Table 5.Interstate 5 in California: fatal crashes by range of five miles, 2015 to 2024
MilepointFatal crashes
Mile 0 to 5145
Mile 5 to 10124
Mile 10 to 15155
Mile 15 to 20136
Mile 20 to 25122
Mile 25 to 30139

Note: the table has the six ranges of five miles with the largest counts, in the order of the milepoint. 98.1 percent of the fatal crashes on the route have a milepoint in FARS. A state can start its milepoints again at a county line.

Routes in the same counties

These routes of California have a fatal crash on record in one or more of the same counties. The list is for navigation. The number is the fatal crashes on the route from 2015 to 2024.

All routes in California

Official channels

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Interstate 5 fatal crashes in California. https://fatalroads.com/route/ca/i-5/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to .

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Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 2000 to 2024. A route page is built for a signed Interstate, US or state route with 20 or more fatal crashes in a state in ten years. Data to . 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 fatal crashes did FARS record on Interstate 5 in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 1,084 fatal crashes on Interstate 5 in California from 2005 to 2014. It records 1,337 from 2015 to 2024.

What part of the fatal crashes in California was on Interstate 5?

1,337 of the 36,640 fatal crashes in California from 2015 to 2024 were on Interstate 5. That is 3.6 percent.

How many fatal crashes on Interstate 5 had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 379 of 1,337 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. It records a speeding-related driver in 432 of them.

Does this page count the same route number in a different state?

No. This page counts the fatal crashes that FARS records on Interstate 5 in California only. The route in a different state has its own page.