Car Accidents in Tulsa: 2023 Crash 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 Tulsa in 2023 it records 70 fatal crashes and 77 deaths. Oklahoma City recorded 99 deaths in the same year, and together the two cities account for a large share of Oklahoma's road deaths.

Tulsa's profile is unusual among large cities. Most cities' fatal crashes cluster after dark; Tulsa's split almost evenly, with 32 in daylight and 37 in the dark, and of the dark crashes 21 were on unlit roads, a higher unlit share than most cities on this list, reflecting Tulsa's highways and the roads at the city's edges. Forty-four of the 70 crashes were away from any intersection, on open stretches of road. Twenty-one involved a pedestrian or cyclist, 30 percent, a lower share than Denver or Sacramento but a substantial one.

The manner of collision is the most distinctive figure. Thirty-seven crashes were coded as not a collision between two motor vehicles in transport, which covers single-vehicle crashes, rollovers and pedestrian strikes. But 15 were angle collisions, 9 were head-on, and 8 were rear-end. Nine fatal head-on crashes in one city in a year points to undivided roads where a lane departure meets oncoming traffic, and eight fatal rear-end crashes points to speed differentials on highways and at the ends of queues. Friday had 16 fatal crashes and Saturday 15, nearly half of the year's total in two days of the week.

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

• I-244, 5 fatal crashes, the inner loop through downtown and north Tulsa.
• South Peoria Avenue, 5 fatal crashes, the long north-south arterial through midtown and south Tulsa.
• I-44, 4 fatal crashes, the east-west interstate and Turner Turnpike connection.
• US-169, 4 fatal crashes, the Mingo Valley Expressway on the east side.
• US-75, 4 fatal crashes, the north-south highway through the west side.
• South Yale Avenue, 3 fatal crashes.
• East Admiral Place, 3 fatal crashes.
• East Pine Street, 2 fatal crashes.

Tulsa is built around a ring of expressways, I-244, I-44, US-169 and US-75, with a grid of wide arterials running between them at mile intervals. The expressways produce the rear-end and single-vehicle fatalities typical of highway speeds, and the arterials, South Peoria, Yale, Admiral, Pine, produce the angle collisions at intersections and the pedestrian strikes between them. The nine head-on crashes are the figure that stands out; they occur where a road is undivided and a driver crosses the center line, through impairment, distraction or fatigue, and they are among the most lethal crash types because the closing speeds add.

For a claim, the daylight and open-road pattern changes the fault arguments. A daylight crash on a straight road leaves less room for the visibility defenses that insurers raise in night crashes, and a head-on crash is almost always clear on fault: the driver who crossed the center line is responsible, and the question is whether they were impaired or distracted, which the police investigation and phone records establish. Rear-end crashes carry a presumption against the following driver.

The problem in Tulsa claims is less often fault than coverage. Oklahoma has one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers in the country, and a serious crash with an uninsured or minimally insured driver leaves the victim's own uninsured motorist coverage as the only source. Oklahoma insurers must offer UM coverage, and it can be rejected in writing, which many drivers do to save money.

Suppose you were driving south on South Peoria Avenue on a Friday evening when a northbound pickup crossed the center line and struck your car head-on. You suffered a fractured sternum, a fractured wrist and a knee injury requiring surgery, with $96,000 in medical bills and four months off work. The pickup's driver was arrested for driving under the influence and had no insurance.

The claim against the driver was worthless. Your own policy carried uninsured motorist coverage of $100,000 per person, which you had kept despite the option to reject it. The UM claim was presented to your own insurer, which valued it as a liability claim would be valued, and which initially argued the knee surgery was for a pre-existing condition. The orthopedist's records and the absence of prior knee treatment answered that, and the claim settled at the policy limit.

The driver was convicted, and restitution was ordered but never collected. Had you rejected UM coverage, the claim would have been limited to medical payments coverage, if any, and health insurance. All figures are hypothetical; the uninsured, impaired, head-on driver is a recurring pattern in Tulsa claims.

The steps are the same as anywhere, with a few specific to Tulsa and Oklahoma.

• Call 911 and get the Tulsa Police report number; crashes on the expressways may be handled by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the report comes from whichever agency responded.
• Ask at the scene whether the other driver has insurance, and photograph the card; if there is none, your own uninsured motorist claim starts immediately.
• Photograph the center line, lane markings and road condition in a head-on or lane-departure crash; they are the fault evidence.
• Get medical care the same day; Tulsa's trauma centers document injuries from the start.
• Find your own policy's uninsured and underinsured motorist limits now; Oklahoma's uninsured driver rate makes them the likely source.
• If a city, county, state or Tulsa Transit vehicle or road contributed, calendar the one-year notice deadline under the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer, or to your own insurer on a UM claim, without preparation.

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 the practical safeguard in a Tulsa crash.

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 Tulsa, Tulsa County, Tulsa Transit 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 Broken Arrow, Owasso, Jenks, Bixby, Sand Springs and the rest of the metro follow the same Oklahoma rules; crashes involving tribal members on reservation land, which includes much of the Tulsa area, can involve tribal jurisdiction for some purposes. Workers' compensation for a crash on the job runs through the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission with a one-year claim deadline.

A Tulsa crash claim is shaped by the city's pattern, daylight, open-road, head-on and rear-end crashes on the expressways and arterials, and by Oklahoma's rules, a two-year deadline, a 51 percent bar and a high uninsured driver rate that makes the victim's own coverage the usual source. The questions to answer early are whether the other driver was insured, what your own UM/UIM limits are, and whether a government notice 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 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 Tulsa, you can request a free claim review.

• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Truck Accident Claims: Liability, Federal Rules and Compensation
• Pedestrian Accident Claims: Rights, Fault and Compensation
• 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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