Fatal car crashes in Vancouver, WA: deadliest roads, 2020-2024

From 2020 through 2024, federal crash records list 68 fatal crashes inside Vancouver, in which 71 people died. The roads with the most were I-205 with 8 fatal crashes, NE Fourth Plain Blvd with 7 and E Mill Plain Blvd with 6.

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

The source for this page is NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the federal database of crashes on public roads that killed at least one person. It codes 68 fatal crashes to Vancouver from 2020 through 2024, and 71 people died in them. NHTSA's Final Files supply the 2020 to 2023 counts; the 2024 counts come from the Annual Report File, NHTSA's first release for the year, and can still be revised.

After an early dip, the count climbed every year. Vancouver had 14 fatal crashes and 15 deaths in 2020, then 8 crashes and 9 deaths in 2021, the lowest year. The figures rose to 12 crashes and 12 deaths in 2022, 16 crashes and 17 deaths in 2023 and 18 crashes and 18 deaths in 2024. The 2024 count is more than double 2021's, though as a first-release figure it may still change.

Clark County recorded 179 fatal crashes and 192 deaths over the five years, and Vancouver's share was 38 percent of the crashes and 37 percent of the deaths. Statewide, Washington had 3,253 fatal crashes and 3,530 deaths. Only Seattle (190 deaths), Tacoma (148), Spokane (102) and Everett (72) recorded more deaths than Vancouver's 71 among Washington cities in these records; one other place in our guides also recorded 71, so Vancouver's fifth place is shared.

I-205 has the most fatal crashes in Vancouver's table, 8, which killed 9 people, the latest in 2024. Its lead is a single crash: NE Fourth Plain Blvd had 7 fatal crashes and 7 deaths, also with one in 2024. E Mill Plain Blvd and State Route 14 follow with 6 crashes and 6 deaths each, the most recent in 2024 and 2023, and State Route 500 had 5 crashes that killed 6 people.

Lower in the table, NE Andresen Rd had 4 fatal crashes, NE 112th Ave had 3 crashes with 4 deaths, and State Route 501 had 3 crashes. I-5 and Ramp (I-205) each had 2 crashes and 2 deaths. Taken together, the ten rows cover 46 of Vancouver's 68 fatal crashes and 49 of its 71 deaths, and the other 22 crashes happened on roads that are not in the table.

Every road in the table had its latest fatal crash in 2023 or 2024, seven of them in 2024. That column shows only each road's most recent fatal crash, not a trend, and the counts show where people died rather than why. For a person hurt on I-205 or on a neighborhood street, a claim rests on the evidence from that crash: the report, the vehicles, witnesses and any video.

Evenings carried the heaviest load in Vancouver: 29 fatal crashes happened between 6 p.m. and midnight, compared with 17 between noon and 6 p.m., 13 between midnight and 6 a.m. and 9 between 6 a.m. and noon. Thirty-eight crashes came after dark, 33 of them on lighted roads and 5 on unlit roads, while 25 happened in daylight, 3 at dusk and 2 at dawn.

Sunday had the most fatal crashes of any day, 16, followed by Friday with 11 and Thursday and Wednesday with 10 each; Monday and Tuesday had 6 each. Weather was clear in 51 crashes, cloudy in 13 and rainy in 4, and 2 crashes happened in a construction work zone. FARS coded 67 of the 68 as urban and 1 as a trafficway outside the state's inventory.

Single-vehicle crashes dominate the record: 46 of the 68 involved one vehicle, 13 involved two and 9 involved three or more. The one-vehicle group includes crashes in which a vehicle struck a pedestrian, the first harmful event in 22 crashes overall. Twenty began with a collision with another motor vehicle in transport, one moving or stopped in the roadway, 12 of them angle crashes and 5 rear-end, and others began when a vehicle hit a tree (5), a concrete barrier (4) or a curb (4). Thirty-eight crashes were non-junction, away from any intersection, driveway or ramp, and 21 were at or related to an intersection.

Drivers were the largest group among Vancouver's dead, 34 of 71, and pedestrians the second largest, 25, or 35 percent. Eight passengers were killed, along with 2 bicyclists, 1 person on a personal conveyance and 1 person coded as in or on a building. Fifteen of the people killed were on a motorcycle or moped, 21 percent. Counted by crash, 28 of the 68 involved a pedestrian, cyclist or other person outside a vehicle, 41 percent.

Each group raises different evidence questions. For pedestrians, the claim usually centers on the crossing, the signal and the lighting at the hour of the crash; for riders, on speed, lane position and whether the other driver could have seen the motorcycle. A family that lost someone may bring a wrongful death claim, which RCW 4.20.010 creates without setting a deadline; the three-year limit comes from RCW 4.16.080(2).

This is an invented case with round numbers. A motorcyclist riding in the right lane of a Vancouver highway is struck by a car changing lanes into him, and he is thrown into the barrier. His medical bills reach $150,000, he loses $30,000 in wages, and his pain and suffering are valued at $20,000, so his losses total $200,000. The car driver's insurer admits the lane change but argues the rider was lingering in the driver's blind spot and assigns him 20 percent of the fault.

Under Washington's pure comparative negligence, a person can recover damages even if mostly at fault, with the award reduced by his or her percentage of fault. At 20 percent, the rider's $200,000 becomes $160,000. Had the insurer argued him all the way to 80 percent, he would still recover $40,000, a result that states with a 50 or 51 percent bar would not allow.

Insurance sets the practical limit. Washington uses the at-fault system, and a driver there must carry at least 25/50/10: up to $25,000 for each injured person, $50,000 per crash for injuries and $10,000 for property. If the car driver carried only that minimum, the policy would cover $25,000 of the $160,000, and the remaining $135,000 would depend on other coverage, other responsible parties or the driver's own assets, questions an attorney would need to work through.

Who has to report, and when? In Washington, the answer turns on the officer. When a law enforcement officer investigates the collision and makes the report, the drivers do not file their own. When no officer does, RCW 46.52.030 and WAC 446-85-010 give each driver four days to make a written report of a collision that injured or killed anyone or did $1,000 or more of damage to any one person's property. The Washington State Patrol takes that Motor Vehicle Collision Report, form 3000-345-161, online or on paper.

• If no officer is present and no one entitled to your information is able to receive it, report the collision forthwith, meaning right away, to the nearest police office (RCW 46.52.020).
• On a highway, photograph lanes, barriers and debris only if it is safe to do so; if it is not, note the exact location and let the officer document the scene.
• If a motorcycle was involved, keep the helmet, riding gear and bike unrepaired until they have been photographed.
• Write down the names and numbers of witnesses before they leave the scene; their accounts often settle disputes about lanes and signals.
• Order the collision report through the State Patrol's WRECR system and read it for mistakes about lanes, speeds and who was where.
• Start medical care within a day and follow it through; insurers read gaps in treatment as a sign of minor injury.

Vancouver crash lawsuits are ordinarily heard in the Clark County Superior Court, but the facts of a particular case can point instead to another county or to federal court. Washington's personal injury deadline is generally three years from the date of injury (RCW 4.16.080), and a suit filed after it runs will generally be dismissed. Settlement talks often run alongside that clock, so the date is worth knowing from the start.

Other clocks can apply. Before suing a city, county or other local government, an injured person files a tort claim form and then waits 60 days, and the deadline is paused during that 60-day wait (RCW 4.96.020). For a crash while working, the employer should generally be told right away (“forthwith” under RCW 51.28.010), and a workers' compensation claim filed with the Washington Department of Labor & Industries within one year. A child's injury claim generally has its clock paused until the child turns 18.

Vancouver's example turns on three Washington rules, and each varies by state. Start with fault. Washington reduces a partly at-fault person's award instead of barring it, while Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia use contributory negligence, which can generally bar recovery for a person found even slightly at fault. In those states, the rider's 20 percent share could leave him nothing rather than $160,000.

Next is insurance. Washington uses the at-fault system, but in Florida, Michigan, New York and New Jersey, no-fault insurance has an injured person's own policy pay certain losses first, regardless of fault, often with limits on when the other driver can be sued. Last is time. Washington generally allows three years to sue, while Tennessee allows one year for most injury claims, so the same delay can be harmless in one state and end a claim in another.

Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency, with the fee set as a percentage of any recovery. 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 Washington, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say whether a claim exists. If you were hurt in a crash in Vancouver, or lost a family member in one, you can request a free case review.

• What do federal records show about fatal car crashes in Kent?
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• Which U.S. cities had the most fatal car accidents in 2023?
• What should you do after a car accident?

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

• Vancouver, Washington: local injury guide, court and deadlines
• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Motorcycle Accident Claims: Overcoming Rider Bias and Recovering Fully

Need local rules? Choose your state from the injury law guides hub or read the statute of limitations by state.