Car Accidents in Sacramento: 2023 Data and How a Claim Works

The federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System records every fatal crash with its location, time, light condition, manner of collision and the people involved. For Sacramento in 2023 it records 65 fatal crashes and 71 deaths. The totals place Sacramento near Denver and Tulsa, but the composition is unlike either.

Thirty-seven of the 65 fatal crashes involved at least one person who was not in a motor vehicle, a pedestrian, a cyclist or a scooter rider. That is 57 percent, the highest share of any large city in this data; Los Angeles, which is known for pedestrian deaths, was at 52 percent, and most cities are between 25 and 45 percent. Fifty-one of the 65 crashes were coded as not a collision between two motor vehicles in transport, which covers pedestrian strikes, single-vehicle crashes into fixed objects and rollovers; only 7 were angle collisions and 4 were rear-end crashes. Sacramento's fatal crashes are, more than any other city's, a vehicle hitting a person.

Thirty-eight of the 65 crashes happened after dark, 30 on lighted streets and 6 on unlit ones. Saturday had 16 fatal crashes, Monday 12 and Thursday 11. Nineteen crashes were coded as at or related to an intersection; 34 were away from any junction, which for a pedestrian city means mid-block crossings on long arterials.

The data codes each crash to a trafficway as the state reports it. The roads with the most fatal crashes in Sacramento in 2023 were:

• I-5, 5 fatal crashes on the mainline and 2 more on its ramps, the north-south interstate along the river.
• State Route 51, the Capital City Freeway, 3 fatal crashes.
• State Route 99, 3 fatal crashes, the freeway through south Sacramento.
• US-50, 3 fatal crashes, the east-west freeway.
• Marysville Boulevard, 2 fatal crashes, in north Sacramento.
• Mack Road, 2 fatal crashes, in south Sacramento.
• Norwood Avenue, 2 fatal crashes, in north Sacramento.

Sacramento's freeways account for the top of the list, but the freeways are not where pedestrians die. The city streets that follow, Marysville Boulevard, Mack Road and Norwood Avenue, and the long arterials of north and south Sacramento like them, are the setting for most pedestrian and cyclist crashes: wide roads with long distances between signalized crossings, bus stops on both sides, and neighborhoods where many residents walk or cycle. Thirty-four of the 65 fatal crashes were away from any junction, which in a pedestrian city means mid-block crossings.

For a claim, California's fault rule is the most important fact. California applies pure comparative negligence: a pedestrian found 30 percent at fault for crossing mid-block recovers 70 percent, and one found 60 percent at fault still recovers 40 percent. There is no bar. That makes a Sacramento pedestrian claim worth pursuing even where the crossing was outside a crosswalk, which in Colorado or North Carolina would be fatal to the claim. The driver's speed, attention and lighting remain the central questions, and the evidence is event data, cameras and witnesses.

The road's ownership matters for any claim that the crossing design or lighting contributed. The freeways and the state routes are Caltrans; the arterials are the city's or the county's depending on the boundary. A claim against any of them requires a written government claim within six months.

Suppose your father, 68, was crossing Stockton Boulevard mid-block at 8 p.m. to reach a bus stop when a car traveling in the curb lane struck him. He suffered a severe brain injury and died nine days later. The driver said he never saw him. The police report noted the crossing was 300 feet from the nearest signal.

The driver's insurer accepted that its driver struck him but assigned 70 percent of the fault to your father for crossing outside a crosswalk at night. Under California's pure comparative rule, that left 30 percent of the wrongful death claim recoverable, which was still substantial. An attorney obtained the vehicle's event data, which showed the car at 48 miles per hour in a 35 zone with no braking, and footage from a business showing the headlights would have illuminated him for several seconds. The fault assignment was renegotiated to 35 percent.

The driver carried a $100,000 policy, which was paid. Your father's own auto policy carried underinsured motorist coverage, which applied to him as a pedestrian and paid the balance of the recoverable amount. A survival claim for his nine days of suffering was included. All figures are hypothetical; the pattern of a mid-block night crossing on an arterial, with the fault split decided by speed evidence, is the usual shape of a Sacramento pedestrian claim.

The steps are the same as anywhere, with a few specific to Sacramento and California.

• Call 911 and get the Sacramento Police report number; crashes on the freeways are handled by the California Highway Patrol, and the report comes from whichever agency responded.
• Photograph the scene, the lighting, the distance to the nearest crosswalk and any cameras on businesses or signals; in a pedestrian crash these decide the fault split.
• Have event data from the vehicle preserved; speed and braking in the seconds before impact are the evidence that moves a pedestrian claim in California.
• Get medical care the same day; a gap in treatment is used against the claim.
• Find your own policy's uninsured and underinsured motorist limits; they apply to you as a pedestrian or cyclist, and California's minimum liability coverage is often insufficient.
• If a city, county or Caltrans road, crossing or signal contributed, calendar the six-month government claim deadline.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer; the fault percentage is negotiated from the evidence, not from your account.

California 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. California's minimum liability coverage is $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident and $15,000 for property damage, raised at the start of 2025. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage must be offered and is on most policies unless rejected in writing, and it applies to you as a pedestrian or cyclist.

Fault follows pure comparative negligence: recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault with no cutoff, which is why a Sacramento pedestrian claim survives a mid-block crossing. The injury deadline is two years from the crash under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1. Claims against a public entity, including the City of Sacramento, Sacramento County, Caltrans and SacRT, require a written government claim within six months under Gov. Code § 911.2 and a lawsuit within six months of the claim's rejection.

Crashes in Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights, Roseville, West Sacramento and the rest of the region follow the same California rules. Workers' compensation for a crash on the job runs through the California Division of Workers' Compensation with a one-year claim deadline.

A Sacramento crash claim is, more often than in any other large city, a pedestrian or cyclist claim, and California's pure comparative rule means the fault split sets the percentage rather than deciding whether there is a claim at all. The questions to answer early are what the speed and lighting evidence shows, what coverage exists beyond the driver's policy, and whether a government claim deadline applies. 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 California, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say what the claim is worth. If you or a family member were hurt in a crash in Sacramento, you can request a free claim review.

• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Pedestrian Accident Claims: Rights, Fault and Compensation
• Wrongful Death Claims: Who Can File, Deadlines and Damages
• Airbag Did Not Deploy in a Crash: Can You Sue, and Whom?
• At Fault in a Car Accident? Comparative Negligence Explained
• What Is the Average Car Accident Settlement? What Sets the Value
• Back and Neck Injury Settlement After a Car Accident: Factors
• Bicycle Accident Claim: Hit by a Car While Riding
• Broken Bone Car Accident Settlement: What Drives the Value

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