Arizona Car Accident Statistics
Numbers do not fix anything after a crash, but they do show what the roads around here actually look like. The figures below come from the Arizona Department of Transportation’s annual Motor Vehicle Crash Facts report, which compiles crash reports submitted by every law enforcement agency in the state.
The Statewide Picture
Arizona recorded 118,052 total crashes in 2025 and 1,156 traffic deaths, a 4.4 percent drop in crashes and a 5.2 percent drop in fatalities from the year before. That is the third consecutive annual decline, and the totals remain near historic highs.
Two behaviors dominate the fatal numbers. Speeding, meaning driving too fast for conditions or exceeding the posted limit, contributed to crashes that killed 367 people and injured 19,831, accounting for 31.8 percent of all traffic deaths and 36.3 percent of all injuries. Alcohol was a factor in 334 deaths and 28 percent of all fatal crashes. Of everyone killed, 320 were not using a seat belt or other safety device.
Yuma County by the Numbers
The most recent full county breakdown comes from the 2024 report. In Yuma County that year:
- 2,600 total crashes
- 22 fatal crashes, resulting in 24 deaths, down from 28 in 2023
- 1,038 injury crashes, with 1,531 people injured
- 1,540 property damage only crashes
- 140 alcohol related crashes, causing 5 deaths and 67 injuries
- 73 motorcycle crashes, causing 4 deaths and 62 injuries
- 47 pedestrian crashes, causing 3 deaths and 47 injuries
- 37 bicycle crashes, causing 38 injuries and no deaths
Broken Down by City
ADOT reports crashes by jurisdiction, which shows where inside the county they actually happen.
- City of Yuma. 1,536 crashes, 7 fatal, 677 injury crashes, 8 killed, 991 injured, 87 alcohol related.
- Unincorporated Yuma County. 761 crashes, 14 fatal, 275 injury crashes, 15 killed, 419 injured, 39 alcohol related.
- San Luis. 232 crashes, 63 injury crashes, 88 injured, 8 alcohol related, no fatalities that year.
- Somerton. 54 crashes, 18 injury crashes, 27 injured.
- Wellton. 17 crashes, 1 fatal, 1 killed, 6 injured.
Read those two largest entries together and a pattern appears. The city of Yuma produced roughly twice the crashes of the unincorporated county but half the fatal ones. County roads carry far fewer collisions and far more death.
Rural Roads Are Deadlier Than They Look
That pattern holds statewide. In 2024, rural areas accounted for 13.05 percent of all Arizona crashes but 34.11 percent of all fatal crashes. Higher speeds, longer emergency response times, and greater distance to a trauma center all compound the same impact.
For anyone driving the county roads, Interstate 8, or the Highway 95 corridor, that is the whole story in one statistic. Our look at the most dangerous roads in the state covers where the risk concentrates.
What Causes Arizona Crashes
From the 2024 statewide driver data, the violations recorded most often were speed too fast for conditions, failure to yield right of way, following too closely, unsafe lane change, and disregarding a traffic signal.
By collision type, rear end impacts were the most common multi unit crash in Arizona at 37.51 percent, which is why whiplash and neck injuries show up in so many claims. Head on collisions made up under 2 percent of crashes but more than 10 percent of fatal ones.
Statewide, 16,136 crashes in 2024 involved a hit and run driver.
What Crashes Cost
ADOT assigns an economic value to crash outcomes using federal cost figures. Statewide, motor vehicle crashes produced $20.89 billion in economic losses in 2024.
Yuma County’s share was $468.7 million, split roughly evenly between fatalities at $228.4 million and injuries at $223.9 million.
Those are societal costs rather than settlement values, but they illustrate a point worth holding onto. A single serious injury carries a lifetime price that an early insurance offer is rarely built to cover, which is why understanding what damages include matters before you agree to anything.
What the Numbers Mean for a Claim
Statistics establish context, not liability. Your case turns on your facts. Still, several of these figures have direct practical weight.
Alcohol involvement in more than a quarter of fatal crashes means impairment is worth investigating in any serious collision, and it can support a punitive damages claim.
The rural fatality disparity means wrongful death claims in this county disproportionately arise from county road and highway crashes, where reconstruction evidence matters most and disappears fastest.
The hit and run volume makes uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy far more important than most drivers realize.
And every one of these crashes started a filing clock. Arizona gives most injury claims two years, and government related claims far less than that.
Where This Data Comes From
All figures above are drawn from ADOT’s Motor Vehicle Crash Facts reports. Statewide 2025 totals come from the department’s 2025 release. County and city level detail comes from the 2024 Crash Facts report, which is the most recent edition containing full jurisdiction tables. ADOT notes that some individual city data may be incomplete where reporting was delayed.
We update this page each year when the new report publishes, usually in midsummer.
Talk to an Arizona Injury Attorney
Behind each of those county numbers is a household that had a normal week until it did not. Citrine Law represents injured people across Yuma County and southwestern Arizona and never insurance companies. We handle injury claims of every kind, from car accident cases to motorcycle collisions. The consultation is free and we are paid only if we recover for you, so reach out today.