Car Accidents in San Diego: 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 the city of San Diego account for 97 deaths in 93 fatal crashes, second in California behind Los Angeles and ahead of San Jose, Bakersfield and Sacramento. San Diego County outside the city, including Chula Vista, Oceanside and Escondido, adds more.

San Diego's pattern is the freeways. I-805, I-5 and I-15 lead the data, and the manner-of-collision figures are a freeway signature: rear-end collisions, 9, outnumbered angle collisions, 5, the opposite of nearly every other large city. Only 25 of 93 fatal crashes were intersection-related, 27 percent. The most common first harmful event, 70 crashes, was something other than hitting another moving vehicle, meaning a fixed object, a rollover or a pedestrian.

Forty-two fatal crashes involved a pedestrian or cyclist, 45 percent, concentrated on the surface streets of the southeast, Imperial Avenue and Market Street, and on freeways where pedestrians were present. Darkness was a factor in 68 of 93, 73 percent. FARS counts fatal crashes only; injury crashes in San Diego County, reported through California's SWITRS system, are many times more numerous.

FARS roadway coding identifies where fatal crashes concentrated in 2023. Freeways and two southeastern arterials lead.

• I-805: 11 fatal crashes on the inland freeway through the city, with 3 more on its ramps.
• I-5: 7 fatal crashes on the coastal freeway.
• I-15: 4 fatal crashes.
• Imperial Avenue: 3 fatal crashes in southeastern San Diego.
• Market Street: 3 fatal crashes.
• Across all coding, I-805 and its ramps together account for 14 fatal crashes, the deadliest corridor in the city.

A rear-end crash on I-805 at night is a fault case that looks simple and often is not. The rear driver is presumed at fault, but on a freeway the defenses are a sudden stop, a lane change by the front vehicle, or a chain reaction started by a third car. The vehicles' event data recorders and footage from Caltrans freeway cameras resolve it, and both are lost quickly.

Pedestrian crashes on Imperial Avenue and Market Street, and on freeways where a person was crossing or stranded, carry the usual defenses about crosswalks, clothing and sudden movement. California's pure comparative negligence rule keeps these claims alive even when the pedestrian shares fault; a pedestrian found 40 percent at fault still recovers 60 percent, and the driver's speed and attention, established from event data and camera footage, are what move the percentage.

Pedestrians and cyclists in San Diego usually have coverage on their own household auto policies. California uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage applies to a named insured or household member struck by a vehicle on foot or on a bike, and with California's $30,000 minimum liability limit, that coverage is frequently the larger source. Hit-and-run crashes are uninsured motorist claims if reported to police promptly.

Suppose you were slowing in traffic on I-805 at night when a driver struck your car from behind at speed, pushing it into the vehicle ahead. You suffered a cervical disc herniation requiring injections and a concussion, with $58,000 in medical bills and ten weeks off work. The rear driver's insurer argued you had braked suddenly without reason and assigned you 30 percent of the fault.

Your event data recorder showed steady braking over several seconds behind slowing traffic; the rear driver's showed no braking before impact. Under California's pure comparative rule, even an unfavorable percentage would not have barred the claim, but with that evidence the fault assignment was abandoned. The rear driver carried California's minimum $30,000 per person limit, which was paid; your own underinsured motorist coverage of $100,000 paid the balance.

The vehicle ahead of you made no claim against you because the rear driver was at fault for both impacts. A question about a lane closure on that stretch of I-805 without adequate warning would have been a claim against Caltrans requiring a government claim within six months of the crash. The claim settled at month fourteen, inside the two-year deadline. All figures are hypothetical.

San Diego's crashes are freeway and pedestrian crashes at night, with evidence held by agencies that will not keep it long and a government deadline measured in months.

• Get the San Diego Police Department or CHP report number; CHP handles the freeways and its reports are obtained from the area office.
• Ask that no vehicle be scrapped before its event data recorder is downloaded, and have preservation letters sent for Caltrans camera footage within days.
• Identify every camera facing a surface street crash, including businesses and MTS buses and trolleys.
• Photograph the lighting, the lane markings and the final positions of every vehicle in a chain collision.
• Check your own and your household members' auto policies for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, even if you were on foot or a bike.
• Report any hit-and-run to police immediately.
• If a freeway lane closure, street design, signal or lighting issue contributed, file a government claim within six months.

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.

Fault follows pure comparative negligence: recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault with no cutoff. 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 San Diego, San Diego County, Caltrans and MTS, 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 Chula Vista, El Cajon, Oceanside, Escondido and the rest of the county follow the same California rules; crashes on military installations or involving military vehicles involve federal procedures. Workers' compensation for a crash on the job runs through the California Division of Workers' Compensation with a one-year claim deadline.

A San Diego claim is often a freeway or pedestrian claim at night with a fault argument, a minimum-limits driver, and a possible government defendant on a six-month clock. The questions to answer early are what the event data and cameras show, what coverage exists on both sides including your own household policies, and whether the road itself is part of the claim. 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 were hurt in a crash in San Diego or San Diego County, 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
• 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
• Can I Sue for a Slip and Fall? Premises Liability Explained
• Can I Sue My Employer for a Work Injury? Workers' Comp vs Lawsuit

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