Fatal car crashes in Rochester, NY: deadliest roads, 2020-2024

From 2020 through 2024, federal crash records list 98 fatal crashes inside Rochester, in which 101 people died. The roads with the most were Lake Ave with 13 fatal crashes, I-490 with 4 and E Main St with 4.

Filing deadline, fault rule, insurance and the court for a crash in Rochester: Rochester, NY injury guide.

Rochester's fatal crash count more than doubled in a single year, from 14 in 2020 to 31 in 2021, then eased to 20 in 2022, 18 in 2023 and 15 in 2024. Deaths followed the same path: 15, 32, 20, 18 and 16. The 2021 total alone is 32 percent of all fatal crashes in the five years, so any one year says little about the next; the 2024 count may still be revised.

Every number here traces to one federal source, NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Its rule for inclusion is a crash on a public road that caused a death within 30 days, and Rochester's count is the set of those crashes that reporting agencies coded to the city. The 2020-2023 data are NHTSA's Final Files; 2024 is the Annual Report File, NHTSA's first release for that year, which can still change. Together the five years hold 98 fatal crashes and 101 deaths, the difference coming from crashes that killed more than one person.

Rochester ranks seventh by deaths among the 419 New York places with fatal crashes coded to them. Its 98 fatal crashes are 41 percent of the 237 recorded across Monroe County, and its 101 deaths are 41 percent of the county's 245. Statewide, New York recorded 5,238 fatal crashes and 5,601 deaths over the same five years. Within the city, one road accounts for an outsized share.

No other road in Rochester's records comes close to Lake Ave. Its 13 fatal crashes from 2020 through 2024 killed 13 people, the most recent in 2024, and make up 13 percent of the city's total. The next two rows of the roads table above, I-490 and E Main St, have 4 fatal crashes each, less than a third of Lake Ave's count; I-490's killed 5 people, the latest in 2024, and E Main St's killed 4, the latest in 2023.

The table's other seven rows each show 3 fatal crashes: St Paul St, where they killed 4 people, and Driving Park Ave, Hudson Ave, Lyell Ave (State Route 31), Clifford Ave, Brown St and North St, with 3 deaths each. In all, the ten rows account for 42 of the 98 fatal crashes, 43 percent, and 44 of the 101 deaths. A road's record frames the questions in a claim; it does not answer who was at fault.

Pedestrians account for more than a third of Rochester's deaths: 36 of the 101 people killed, or 36 percent, and 6 bicyclists also died. Inside vehicles in transport, 44 drivers and 13 passengers were killed. FARS records two less common cases as well: one occupant of a vehicle that was not in transport, meaning neither moving nor stopped in the roadway, such as a parked car, and one person inside or on a building.

Seen crash by crash, 43 of the 98, or 44 percent, involved at least one non-motorist, meaning a pedestrian, a cyclist or another person outside a vehicle, and a cyclist was the first person struck in 6. Within the 101 deaths are 22 people on a motorcycle or moped, 22 percent of the total, already counted in the figures above rather than added to them.

Where a pedestrian was struck matters as much as when. A marked crosswalk with a walk signal and a mid-block crossing at night raise different fault questions, and the answers usually come from the scene itself: the signal timing, the street lighting, how far a driver could see and any camera footage facing the street. With 62 of Rochester's fatal crashes after dark, a photograph taken at the same hour is often the clearest record of what a driver faced.

Sunday was the deadliest day, with 19 fatal crashes, followed by Wednesday with 18 and Friday and Monday with 16 each. Saturday had the fewest, 7, behind Tuesday's 10 and Thursday's 12. By hour, 37 crashes happened between 6 p.m. and midnight and 31 between midnight and 6 a.m., 68 of the 98, or 69 percent; 19 happened in the afternoon and 11 in the morning.

Darkness is the common thread in Rochester's record: 62 crashes, 63 percent, happened after dark, and lighting was present for 57 of them, absent for 4 and unknown for 1. Daylight accounted for 32, with 4 more at dawn or dusk. Clouds covered 22 crashes, rain 8 and snow 2; the other 66 happened in clear weather. Single-vehicle crashes numbered 55 and two-vehicle crashes 39, with 4 involving more.

Striking a pedestrian was the most common first harmful event in Rochester: 35 crashes began that way, against 34 that began with a collision with another motor vehicle in transport, which FARS defines as moving or stopped in the roadway. Among those 34, angle crashes, one vehicle striking another's side, led with 22, followed by 6 head-on, 3 rear-end and 3 sideswipes. Forty-five crashes, 46 percent, were at or tied to an intersection; for 50, FARS records the location as non-junction: not at an intersection, a driveway or any other junction.

Take an invented case. On a cloudy evening in Rochester, you drive through an intersection a little too fast, and a driver who rolled through a stop sign strikes your car at an angle. You have $70,000 in medical bills and lose five months of work. Under New York's no-fault system, personal injury protection (PIP) generally covers the first medical bills and part of the lost income, whoever was at fault.

Beyond PIP, a claim against the other driver is generally possible for further losses, and for pain and suffering when the injury meets New York's threshold. Assume the injury qualifies and the case reaches a jury, which values your damages at $200,000. The other insurer argues that your speed made the crash unavoidable, and the jury assigns you 60 percent of the fault. New York's pure comparative negligence rule reduces the award by your percentage rather than barring it, so you would receive $80,000; under a 51 percent bar, a 60 percent share would end the claim.

New York's minimum auto liability coverage, 25/50/10, provides $25,000 for one person's injuries, $50,000 for all injuries in a crash and $10,000 for property damage, well below an $80,000 award, and whether other coverage applies depends on the policies involved. Had the other car been a city or county vehicle, another step would matter early: claims against New York municipalities require a notice of claim within 90 days (Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e). Only an attorney can evaluate a real case.

New York sets two separate duties. If anyone is injured or killed, the driver must notify the police immediately; when no officer is nearby, the crash must be reported as soon as the driver is physically able, to the nearest police station or judicial officer (VTL § 600). Separately, every driver in a crash that kills or injures anyone, or damages any one person's property, including their own, by more than $1,000, must file a Report of Motor Vehicle Crash (MV-104) with the DMV within 10 days (N.Y. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 605).

The MV-104 can be filed with the DMV online or by mail, and the DMV also takes requests for copies of crash reports. Beyond the paperwork, injuries do not always show at the scene, an insurer will look for any gap before your first treatment, and footage from cameras near the scene can be overwritten quickly. The first days matter for both your health and the evidence:

• Before the police leave, get the officer's name and the report number.
• Photograph where each vehicle and person ended up, the crossing or intersection, and the signals and lighting as they were.
• Ask nearby homes and businesses whether a camera faces the street, and ask them to keep the footage.
• Get medical care right away and keep every record for the PIP claim.
• If a city, county or other municipality may share responsibility, raise the 90-day notice of claim with an attorney right away (Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e).
• Notify your insurer promptly; New York's no-fault PIP generally pays first.

In New York, the Supreme Court is a trial court, and a lawsuit over a Rochester crash is typically filed in the Monroe County Supreme Court; some cases belong elsewhere, and an attorney determines which court is right. The general deadline for a personal injury lawsuit is three years from the date of the injury (N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5)). Most claims settle without a trial, but the deadline shapes every negotiation.

Claims against New York municipalities require a notice of claim within 90 days (Gen. Mun. Law § 50-e), so if a city, county or other municipality may share responsibility for a crash, that notice is the first date to check; the deadline for the lawsuit itself in such a case is set separately by state law. Exceptions can alter these periods, and a wrongful death claim can have its own deadline, so confirm every date with an attorney early.

New York's rules pull in different directions. Pure comparative negligence lets you recover damages even if you were mostly at fault, with the award reduced by your percentage of fault. No-fault insurance makes PIP the first payer for medical bills and part of lost wages, and generally limits pain-and-suffering claims to injuries that meet the state's threshold. N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 214(5) generally gives three years to sue.

Pure comparative negligence is what keeps the example's claim alive at 60 percent. In contributory negligence states such as Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, even slight fault can generally bar recovery, and under a 51 percent bar a 60 percent share would also end the claim. Tennessee sets one year for most injury claims rather than three. For a crash on the job, New York workers' compensation may apply: tell your employer within 30 days and generally file within two years, through the New York Workers' Compensation Board.

Ask Legal Matters is a personal injury lead-generation service that collects free case review requests from injured people in the United States and shares them with independent attorneys and law firms. It is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in New York. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency, taking a share of any recovery as their fee. Because a claim against a municipality requires notice within 90 days, the facts should be evaluated early, and only an attorney's review can show whether a claim exists. If you were hurt in a crash in Rochester, you can request a free case review.

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• How do you file a car accident insurance claim?

More on this type of claim: Car accidents: evidence, deadlines and when to ask an attorney.

• Rochester, New York: local injury guide, court and deadlines
• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Pedestrian Accident Claims: Rights, Fault and Compensation

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