Car Accidents in Minneapolis: 2023 Data and Minnesota Claims

The figures here come from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's nationwide count of traffic crashes in which someone died within 30 days. FARS codes 23 fatal crashes to Minneapolis in 2023, all in Hennepin County and all on urban roads, with 28 deaths. Because each crash in the file killed at least one person, the 5 deaths beyond that show that one or more crashes took multiple lives; the summary does not say which.

Intersections are the clearest pattern. Eight crashes were coded as inside an intersection and another 8 as intersection-related, together 16 of the 23, while 4 occurred away from any junction, 1 elsewhere in an interchange area and 2 at or near driveways. Two moving vehicles collided to start 9 crashes, and 7 of those were angle impacts, typically the front of one car striking the side of another; there was also 1 rear-end and 1 head-on crash.

Nine crashes involved a pedestrian, cyclist or other non-motorist, 11 people in all. In FARS terms, the first harmful event, the earliest point at which a person was injured or property damaged, was a pedestrian strike in 7 crashes and a cyclist strike in 2. Four crashes began with a fixed object, 1 each with a bridge overhead structure, a fence, a traffic signal support and a guardrail. One began with a rollover, and the remaining 9 with a collision between vehicles in traffic.

Every one of the 14 crashes after dark happened on a lighted road; 8 were in daylight and 1 at dusk. The 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. window held 10 crashes and the rest of the day 13, so at minimum 4 dark crashes took place in the evening or early-morning hours. Saturday had 7 and Sunday 5, more than half the year together, and Wednesday had none. February had no fatal crash, and the weather codes include no snow: clear for 16, cloudy for 3, rainy for 3 and unknown for 1.

Minor arterials, the mid-level roads that move traffic between neighborhoods and larger routes, had 11 of the 23 crashes, nearly half. Principal arterials other than freeways had 4, as did major collectors; interstates had 2, and one crash each occurred on another freeway or expressway and on a local street. As with any one year of fatal crash data, the counts show where people died, not how dangerous a road is per mile or per vehicle, and a busy road accumulates crashes partly through volume.

Minnesota's FARS records pair route numbers with street names, using CR for county roads and SR for state routes, and mark city streets with MU-; that prefix and two house numbers in the entries are dropped here. Because the summary lists only 12 entries, accounting for 19 of the 23 crashes, it is partial, and 4 crashes are left without a road. Entries that share a route number are combined below, with each coding shown, and one interstate entry that looks garbled is listed as coded.

• SR-55, coded as Hiawatha Avenue: 4 fatal crashes.
• CR-3, Lake Street: 3 crashes, coded as West Lake Street (2) and East Lake Street (1).
• CR-152: 3 crashes, coded as Cedar Avenue South (2) and Washington Avenue North (1).
• CR-22 (Lyndale Avenue South) and Chicago Avenue South: 2 each.
• SR-62, West Lyndale Avenue North, CR-153 (Lowry Avenue Northeast) and St. Anthony Parkway: 1 each.
• I-ISTH 94, spelled as coded: 1.

The crash file tells you where and how each crash unfolded, not who was to blame, and the summary used here has nothing on speed, signal timing, impairment or distraction. With most crashes at intersections, angle impacts leading the vehicle collisions and pedestrians struck in 7 crashes, possible factors include drivers misjudging gaps when turning, running signals, speed through crossings and how visible people on foot were at night. These are possibilities to investigate in a given case, not conclusions the counts support.

Angle crashes usually turn on right-of-way: who had the green light, whether a turning driver yielded, and whether either driver was going too fast to stop. The insurers involved may tell different stories, and Minnesota's modified comparative negligence rule gives the answer real weight. A person whose share of the fault is 50 percent or lower can still collect, minus that percentage, but a person above the line collects nothing, so a shift from 40 to 55 percent ends the claim against that driver.

Crashes that kill or injure several people add a coverage problem. Minnesota's minimum liability limits are written 30/60/10. That shorthand means $30,000 of coverage per injured person, a $60,000 cap on all injury payments from one crash, and $10,000 for damaged property. If the at-fault driver carried only those minimums and several people were hurt, the $60,000 can be divided among them quickly. The injured person's own underinsured motorist coverage, if it applies, may then be the realistic source for losses beyond the at-fault driver's limits.

Suppose that in 2025 you were driving through a Minneapolis intersection on a green light when a driver turning left across your path struck your car's passenger side. You broke several ribs and hurt a shoulder badly enough to need surgery, which brought $55,000 in medical bills and ten weeks away from your job. Your passenger was hurt too. Every fact and number in this example is hypothetical and meant only to show how the rules fit together.

Your own no-fault coverage, often called personal injury protection or PIP, is the first to pay, covering medical expenses and lost wages within the policy's limits whoever caused the crash. A pain and suffering claim against the turning driver would generally be possible only if your injury passes a threshold in Minnesota's no-fault law, which an attorney can explain. Suppose it did, and your total damages were valued at $160,000. The other insurer says you were speeding and that 20 percent of the fault is yours, which would reduce the claim to $128,000.

Now the limits. If the turning driver carried Minnesota's minimum 30/60/10 policy, only $30,000 would be available for your injuries, and your passenger's claim would draw on the same $60,000 per-crash total. Underinsured motorist coverage on your policy, if you have it, might cover part of the remaining $98,000, depending on its terms. A fault finding above 50 percent would end the claim against the turning driver, though no-fault benefits would still pay. An attorney must review the real facts before any claim can be valued.

Because most of Minneapolis's 2023 fatal crashes happened at intersections, the evidence that matters most is often about signals, turning movements and sight lines, and it can disappear within days. Camera footage in particular may be recorded over, so speed matters. Whether you were driving, riding, walking or cycling, the steps below apply, and a family member can begin them if you are hospitalized.

Start a claim folder immediately. Keep the police report number, your no-fault claim number, medical records and bills, pay records showing time missed, photos and witness contacts in one place. Note which auto policies cover you and everyone in your household, because no-fault and underinsured motorist benefits may come from more than one of them. While the details are fresh, also jot down which way each vehicle was heading and what the signals showed.

• Call 911 and note which agency responded, such as the Minneapolis Police Department or the Minnesota State Patrol, along with the report number.
• At an intersection, record the signal phase, any turn arrows, lane positions and each vehicle's direction before the scene is cleared, if it is safe.
• Ask nearby businesses to preserve their camera footage promptly.
• See a doctor as soon as you can, ideally the same day, and make sure the crash is recorded as the cause.
• Notify your auto insurer and open a no-fault claim, even if you were walking or cycling.
• Ask the other driver's insurer for the liability limits, and check your own policy for underinsured motorist coverage.
• Keep receipts for mileage, medication and household help, since no-fault benefits may cover some of these costs.

Minnesota shares its no-fault approach with states such as Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Florida. After a crash, each person looks first to their own policy's no-fault benefits, whoever was responsible, and a pain and suffering lawsuit against the other driver is generally open only to injuries that pass a threshold in state law. Minnesota's required liability limits are 30/60/10. In fault-based states such as Texas and California, the injured person usually claims directly against the at-fault driver's insurer, with no threshold to meet.

Minnesota splits fault using modified comparative negligence and a 51 percent bar: an injured person whose fault does not exceed 50 percent may recover, minus their percentage. That differs from Alabama and Maryland, where contributory negligence can defeat a claim over even slight fault, and from Nebraska and Colorado, which cut off recovery once a person's share reaches 50 percent rather than exceeding it. In Minnesota, a person found exactly half at fault can still recover half of the damages.

Minnesota gives most injury suits six years under Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(5), a long window next to Tennessee's one year for most claims or California's two. Not every claim gets that time. A wrongful death case, brought by family members after a fatal crash, follows a separate statute with its own deadline, and suing a city, county or the state can require written notice early on. Both are reasons to talk with an attorney soon rather than rely on the six-year figure. Minnesota injury lawsuits go to the state's District Court.

In a Minneapolis claim, the early questions are which no-fault policy pays first, whether the injury clears the threshold for a pain and suffering claim, how fault at the intersection is likely to be divided, and whether the at-fault driver's limits, shared with anyone else hurt, are enough. Underinsured motorist coverage may fill part of any gap. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency, so the fee comes out of any money recovered rather than from hourly billing.

As a lead-generation service, not a law firm, Ask Legal Matters offers a free claim-review request service and does not provide legal advice. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Minnesota. An attorney's evaluation of the facts comes first; until then, neither the existence of a claim nor its value can be judged. Drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians hurt in a Minneapolis crash can request a free claim review.

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