Fatal Roads

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State highwaySR-4

California · state highway

State Route 4

Fatal crashes 2015–2024 226Deaths 255Counties 6Latest data year 2024

FARS data are based on police crash reports and other sources; the drunk-driving measure is based on the highest BAC of any driver in the crash. Latest data year: 2024. The route is the trafficway recorded for each crash (FARS TWAY_ID); the same route number in another state has its own page.

State Route 4 in California was the trafficway in 226 fatal crashes between 2015 and 2024, in which 255 people died.

That is 0.6% of the 36,640 fatal crashes in California over the same years. The ten-year crash count rose 53% from 148 in 2005–2014 to 226 in 2015–2024.

The crashes were concentrated in Contra Costa County (115), San Joaquin County (70) and Calaveras County (27) and 3 other counties.

35.0% of the crashes had a driver reported as drinking (California: 27.9%) and 29.2% had a speeding-related driver (30.2%); pedestrians were 11.0% and motorcyclists 12.5% of those killed.

226fatal crashes, 2015–2024+53% vs 2005–2014
255people killed1.1 per fatal crash
35%with a drinking driverCalifornia: 28%
29%speeding-relatedCalifornia: 30%

Fatal crashes per year

016312000200520102015202020242000: 19 crashes2001: 13 crashes2002: 22 crashes2003: 15 crashes2004: 19 crashes2005: 19 crashes2006: 17 crashes2007: 25 crashes2008: 17 crashes2009: 11 crashes2010: 18 crashes2011: 7 crashes2012: 11 crashes2013: 13 crashes2014: 10 crashes2015: 18 crashes2016: 24 crashes2017: 19 crashes2018: 16 crashes2019: 20 crashes2020: 31 crashes2021: 27 crashes2022: 27 crashes2023: 29 crashes2024: 15 crashes
Fatal crashes on State Route 4 (CA) by year, 2000–2024. Latest point: 2024, 15 crashes.

Route identification in FARS is consistent from 2000; earlier years are not shown. Shaded band: the ten-year window used for the shares below.

Compared with all fatal crashes in California

MeasureState Route 4California
Fatal crashes, 2015–202422636,640
Deaths, 2015–202425539,702
Deaths per fatal crash1.11.1
Share of state fatal crashes0.6%100%
Change vs previous ten years+53%+19%

Factor shares

Alcoholcrashes with a driver reported as drinking35%
Speedingcrashes with a speeding-related driver29.2%
Pedestriansshare of people killed11%
Motorcyclistsshare of people killed12.5%
Night (6pm–6am)share of crashes58.6%

tick marks the California share. Bars are shares of fatal crashes (alcohol, speeding, darkness, rural) or of people killed (pedestrians, motorcyclists, unrestrained occupants) over the ten-year window.

Counties along the route

#CountyFatal crashes on SR-4Share of routeCounty total, all roads
1Contra Costa County11551%753
2San Joaquin County7031%1,128
3Calaveras County2712%121
4Stanislaus County94%751
5Alpine County42%17
6Santa Clara County10%1,138

Hour of day

12am3.6%
1am6.8%
2am3.6%
3am3.6%
4am3.2%
5am4.5%
6am2.7%
7am2.3%
8am2.7%
9am1.4%
10am4.5%
11am1.4%
12pm2.7%
1pm3.2%
2pm3.6%
3pm6.4%
4pm5%
5pm5.5%
6pm4.1%
7pm1.8%
8pm5.9%
9pm7.7%
10pm5.9%
11pm7.7%

Share of fatal crashes on State Route 4 beginning in each hour, 2015–2024; tick marks the California share for all roads.

Where along the route

Mile marker rangeFatal crashesShare
Mile 15–203716%
Mile 5–103616%
Mile 0–53013%
Mile 25–302612%
Mile 20–252411%
Mile 10–15219%

Five-mile bins by FARS milepoint, the six with the most fatal crashes; 96.5% of crashes on the route have a milepoint. Milepoints are as recorded by the state and can restart at county or district lines.

Other routes in California

All routes and counties in California

Questions and answers

How many fatal crashes have there been on State Route 4 in California?

226 fatal crashes with 255 deaths over 2015–2024, per NHTSA's FARS. The route is the trafficway recorded for the crash; the same numbered route in another state has its own page.

Which counties along State Route 4 had the most fatal crashes?

Contra Costa County (115), San Joaquin County (70), Calaveras County (27), Stanislaus County (9) and Alpine County (4).

What share of crashes on State Route 4 involved alcohol or speeding?

35.0% had a driver reported as drinking and 29.2% a speeding-related driver, against 27.9% and 30.2% for all fatal crashes in California.

When do fatal crashes happen on State Route 4?

58.6% of the crashes were between 6pm and 6am. The hour chart on this page shows the full distribution.

Provenance

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System, annual national CSV files 2000–2024 (accident, vehicle and person tables), public domain. Route pages are built for signed Interstate, US and state routes with at least 20 fatal crashes in 2015–2024. Data through 31 Dec 2024; generated 30 Sep 2026. See methodology and corrections.