Indiana car accident statistics (2020-2024)

Car accident deaths in Indiana by year

Annual car accident deaths rose from 761 in 2020 to 802 in 2021 and reached their highest count, 834, in 2022. The count then fell to 763 in 2023 and 729 in 2024, the lowest year in the period. The 2024 count was 32 deaths lower than the 2020 count.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Indiana's share of the national car accident death total was 2.3% in 2020, 2.2% in 2021, 2.3% in 2022, and 2.2% in both 2023 and 2024. Across 2020 through 2024, Indiana accounted for 2.2% of the national total of 176,219 deaths. The annual counts describe deaths, rather than the number of fatal crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

2024 figures come from the FARS Annual Report File and can be revised when NHTSA publishes the final file.

Who died in Indiana car accidents

People in cars, SUVs, pickups or vans accounted for 2,968 deaths, or 76.3% of car accident deaths from 2020 through 2024. This was the largest person category. People in other vehicles accounted for 410 deaths and 10.5%, the smallest category. Nonoccupants (FARS person-type grouping) accounted for 511 deaths and 13.1%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Each category counts people killed in the selected passenger-vehicle-involved crashes. The nonoccupant label follows the FARS person-type grouping; it is not a literal test of position relative to a vehicle. That grouping can include occupants of parked motor vehicles.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Collision types and setting

Manner of collision describes the first harmful event. Angle (side impact) recorded 960 deaths; Head-on, 584; Rear-end, 349; Sideswipe, 115; Other, 6; and Unknown, 7. Not a collision with a motor vehicle in transport recorded 1,868 deaths. That row means the first harmful event was not between motor vehicles in transport, including rollovers or impacts with fixed objects or parked vehicles. Vehicles in transport can be stopped in traffic.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime accounted for 2,036 car accident deaths (52.4%); nighttime, 1,844 (47.4%). Urban deaths numbered 1,779 (45.7%); rural deaths, 2,105 (54.1%). Unknown time accounted for 9 deaths; unknown land use, 5.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Counties with the most car accident deaths

Marion County had the most car accident deaths during 2020 through 2024, with 598, followed by Lake County with 244 and Allen County with 180. Elkhart County recorded 133 deaths and St. Joseph County recorded 123. The remaining listed counts were Vanderburgh County, 97; Hamilton County, 90; LaPorte County, 86; Porter County, 82; Madison County, 79; Delaware County, 76; Vigo County, 72; Kosciusko County, 65; Tippecanoe County, 64; and Hendricks County, 59.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Death counts and population rates describe different measures. Among the listed counties, Kosciusko County had the highest average annual deaths per 100,000 residents at 16.2, while Hamilton County had the lowest at 4.9. These rate rankings apply only among the listed counties. County deaths are assigned by crash location.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Up to 15 counties with the most deaths in the period, largest first. Rates for counties with few deaths change sharply with each death.

How Indiana compares with the national rate

Indiana's car accident death rate was 11.4 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024, compared with the national rate of 10.5. Indiana's rate was higher. The corresponding death counts were 3,889 for Indiana and 176,219 for the United States.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

These rates use deaths during the period divided by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates, multiplied by 100,000. They do not adjust for miles driven or visitors. Indiana's separately displayed 2024 population estimate of 6,934,754 is not the denominator used for this calculation. For a reader searching for a car accident lawyer, keep the grouping in mind: these counts identify where crashes happened, not where the people killed lived.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

About these figures

NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System is a census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Inclusion requires a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and an occupant or nonoccupant death within 30 days. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded. State and county totals follow crash location, not residence.^[8][6][7]

The 2020 through 2023 records are Final Files; 2024 uses the Annual Report File, subject to revision when replaced by the Final File. Rates use the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates, Vintage 2025, for 2020 through 2024. Dividing deaths by that sum and multiplying by 100,000 yields average annual deaths per 100,000 residents, without adjustment for miles driven or visitors.^[8][6][7]

See also

• FARS Annual Report File and Final File
• Car accident statistics for Marion County, Indiana (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Lake County, Indiana (2020-2024)
• Car accident statistics for Allen County, Indiana (2020-2024)