Kansas car accident statistics (2020-2024)

Car accident deaths in Kansas by year

Car accident deaths rose from 364 in 2020 to 373 in 2021, the highest annual count during the period. They then fell to 350 in 2022, 333 in 2023 and 288 in 2024. The lowest count was in 2024, with 76 fewer deaths than in 2020. All traffic deaths declined from 426 in 2020 to 339 in 2024.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Kansas accounted for 1.0% of the national car accident death total for 2020 through 2024. Its annual share was 1.1% in 2020, 1.0% in 2021, 1.0% in 2022, 0.9% in 2023 and 0.9% in 2024. The national count for the full period was 176,219 deaths.^{[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 Kansas car accidents

People in cars, SUVs, pickups or vans accounted for 1,369 deaths, or 80.2% of car accident deaths in Kansas during 2020 through 2024. This was the largest person category. People in other vehicles accounted for 156 deaths, or 9.1%, the smallest category.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Nonoccupants (FARS person-type grouping) accounted for 183 deaths, or 10.7%. These labels classify people killed in the selected passenger-vehicle-involved crashes. The nonoccupant grouping follows FARS person types; it is not a literal test of whether someone was outside a vehicle and 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) accounted for 464 deaths; Head-on, 276; Rear-end, 108; Sideswipe, 49; and Other, 6. Not a collision with a motor vehicle in transport accounted for 805 deaths. That row includes first harmful events such as a rollover or striking a fixed object, parked vehicle, pedestrian or cyclist. Vehicles in transport can be stopped in traffic.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime accounted for 899 car accident deaths (52.6%); nighttime, 790 (46.3%); and unknown time, 19 (1.1%). Urban locations accounted for 694 deaths (40.6%), rural locations for 1,009 (59.1%) and unknown land use for 5 (0.3%). These figures cover 2020 through 2024.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Counties with the most car accident deaths

Sedgwick County had the most car accident deaths during 2020 through 2024, with 285. Wyandotte County followed with 107, then Johnson County with 105, Shawnee County with 92 and Douglas County with 44. The county table lists 15 counties with the most deaths during the period; its rows group deaths by crash county.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Death counts and population-based rates describe different measures. Sedgwick County's average annual deaths per 100,000 residents were 10.8, compared with 12.7 in Wyandotte County and 3.4 in Johnson County. Among the listed counties, Sumner County had the highest rate at 25.0, while Johnson County had the lowest at 3.4. Sumner County recorded 28 deaths.^{[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 Kansas compares with the national rate

The Kansas car accident death rate was 11.6 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024, higher than the national rate of 10.5. The corresponding death counts were 1,708 in Kansas and 176,219 across the United States. These rates do not adjust for miles driven or visitors.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Each rate uses deaths during the period divided by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates, then multiplied by 100,000. Kansas's separately reported 2024 population estimate of 2,965,252 is not the denominator. Whether reading for statistical context or searching for a car accident lawyer, keep the crash-location grouping in mind when interpreting these population-based rates.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

About these figures

FARS 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 counts follow crash location, not the deceased person's residence.^[8][6][7]

The 2020 through 2023 data use FARS Final Files. The 2024 Annual Report File can change when NHTSA publishes the Final File. Rates use the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates, Vintage 2025, to calculate average annual deaths per 100,000 residents. They do not adjust for miles driven or visitors, and the separately shown July 1, 2024 estimate is not their denominator.^[8][6][7]

See also

• FARS Annual Report File and Final File
• Car accident statistics for Sedgwick County, Kansas (2020-2024)