Car Accidents in Oklahoma City: 2023 Data and How a Claim Works

NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System records every fatal crash on public roads. For 2023, crashes coded to Oklahoma City account for 99 deaths in 93 fatal crashes, nineteenth nationally and ahead of Tulsa's 77. Oklahoma City's land area is among the largest of any US city, and the figure covers highway stretches that in other metros would be coded to suburbs.

The pattern is the interstates. I-44 and I-40 together recorded 20 fatal crashes, 22 percent of the city's total, and I-240 and I-35 added 6 more. Only 21 of 93 fatal crashes, 23 percent, were intersection-related, among the lowest shares in the national top 25. The most common first harmful event, 60 crashes, was something other than hitting another moving vehicle, meaning a fixed object, a rollover or a pedestrian. Head-on crashes, 9, were notable.

Darkness was a factor in 58 of 93 fatal crashes, 62 percent. Twenty-eight involved a pedestrian or cyclist, 30 percent, many on the highways and the wide south side arterials. Thirty-four were on a weekend. FARS counts fatal crashes only; injury crashes in Oklahoma County, reported through the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office, number in the tens of thousands per year.

FARS roadway coding identifies where fatal crashes concentrated in 2023.

• I-44: 12 fatal crashes, the most of any road, across the northwest and south sections and the Turner and H.E. Bailey Turnpike approaches.
• I-40: 8 fatal crashes on the east-west interstate.
• I-240: 3 fatal crashes on the south side loop.
• I-35: 3 fatal crashes.
• South Portland Avenue: 3 fatal crashes on the south side.
• South Western Avenue: 3 fatal crashes.

A fatal or serious crash on I-44 or I-40 at night usually involves speed, often involves a single vehicle leaving the road or a wrong-way driver, and in multi-vehicle cases involves a fault dispute about lane changes and following distance. The vehicles' event data recorders, footage from ODOT's camera network and from commercial vehicles, and the Oklahoma City Police or Oklahoma Highway Patrol report are the evidence, and all of it is time-sensitive.

Commercial trucks are a significant factor because I-40 and I-35 are major freight corridors that cross in the city. A crash involving a tractor-trailer brings federal motor carrier rules, a minimum $750,000 liability policy for most interstate carriers, and the carrier's own logging data and cameras into the claim.

Oklahoma's 51 percent bar makes the fault percentage decisive. A driver found 50 percent at fault recovers half; one found 51 percent at fault recovers nothing. Highway crashes at night with few witnesses are where insurers push hardest toward 51, and the physical evidence is what holds the line.

Suppose you were driving on I-44 at night when a driver merging from an on-ramp struck your car, sending it into the median. You suffered a fractured collarbone and a lumbar disc injury, with $54,000 in medical bills and ten weeks off work. The merging driver's insurer argued you were speeding and failed to move over, and assigned you 50 percent of the fault.

The event data from both vehicles, preserved by a letter sent in the first week, showed your speed at the limit and the merging vehicle entering without yielding. Under Oklahoma's 51 percent rule, the opening assignment would have halved the claim; with the evidence, it was renegotiated to 10 percent. The merging driver carried Oklahoma's $25,000 minimum, which was paid; your own underinsured motorist coverage paid the balance after the reduction.

Had the on-ramp's design or signage been part of the claim, written notice to the State of Oklahoma under the Governmental Tort Claims Act would have been required within one year of the crash, and the Act's damage caps would have applied. The claim against the driver settled at month fourteen, inside the two-year deadline. All figures are hypothetical.

Oklahoma City's crashes are interstate crashes at night, and the evidence that decides fault is held in the vehicles and by agencies that will not keep it long.

• Get the Oklahoma City Police Department or Oklahoma Highway Patrol report number; Oklahoma crash reports are available through the Department of Public Safety.
• Ask that no vehicle be scrapped before its event data recorder is downloaded, and have preservation letters sent for ODOT camera footage within days.
• If a commercial truck was involved, photograph the carrier's name and USDOT number and have a preservation letter sent to the carrier.
• Photograph the scene, lighting and the position of every vehicle; most Oklahoma City fatal crashes are at night on highways.
• Report to your own insurer the same day and confirm your uninsured and underinsured motorist limits in writing.
• Get medical care within a day and keep every record.
• If a highway design, signal or government vehicle contributed, send written notice under the Governmental Tort Claims Act within one year.

Oklahoma is a fault state, not no-fault. The at-fault driver's liability insurer is the primary source of recovery, and medical payments coverage on your own policy, if purchased, pays early bills. Oklahoma's minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage. Uninsured motorist coverage must be offered and can be rejected in writing; Oklahoma has one of the higher uninsured driver rates in the country, which makes that coverage important.

Fault follows modified comparative negligence with a 51 percent bar: you recover if you were 50 percent or less at fault, reduced by your share. The injury deadline is two years from the crash. Claims against the City of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, EMBARK or the State of Oklahoma fall under the Governmental Tort Claims Act, which requires written notice within one year, sets damage caps, and gives the entity time to respond before a lawsuit can be filed.

Crashes in Norman, Edmond, Moore and the rest of the metro follow the same Oklahoma rules; crashes on tribal land can involve tribal jurisdiction. Workers' compensation for a crash on the job runs through the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission with a one-year claim deadline.

An Oklahoma City claim is usually an interstate claim at night where the fault percentage decides everything under Oklahoma's 51 percent rule, the at-fault driver may carry the minimum or nothing, and a commercial carrier may be involved. The questions to answer early are what the event data and cameras show, what coverage exists on both sides, and whether a public entity is involved on the one-year notice clock. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Oklahoma, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say what the claim is worth. If you were hurt in a crash in Oklahoma City or Oklahoma County, you can request a free claim review.

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