AZ Law Now · Data Report · Arizona large trucks · 2015-2024
The Decade Arizona's Truck Deaths Outran the Nation
We read the federal crash record for every fatal crash involving a large truck in Arizona over ten years. The state's death count rose nearly four times faster than the country's, and on the I-10 freight spine most of the trucks in those crashes were registered somewhere else. Here is the toll, the trend, and the corridor, with every number free to use with credit.
rise in Arizona's large-truck-crash deaths over five years, while the nation's rose 17%.
1,252 killed in 1,058 fatal truck crashes · nearly four times the national pace
A national number can hide a local one. We pulled Arizona out of the federal truck-crash record and counted it on its own.
Here is what the record shows, finding by finding, every figure computed from the same primary source.
The surge
Arizona's truck deaths grew nearly four times faster than the nation's
66% rise in Arizona, against 17% nationally
In the 2015 to 2019 period, 471 people died in Arizona crashes that involved a large truck. In the 2020 to 2024 period, that count reached 781, a 66% rise. Over the same two periods the national total moved from 23,961 to 28,029, a 17% rise.
Put those two increases next to each other and Arizona's runs nearly four times the national pace. The gap between the two is the finding: the same five years that added 17% to the country's truck deaths added 66% here.
| Measure | Arizona | United States |
|---|---|---|
| 2015-2019 deaths | 471 | 23,961 |
| 2020-2024 deaths | 781 | 28,029 |
| Change | +66% | +17% |
Deaths in fatal crashes involving a large truck, counted once per crash. Source: NHTSA FARS, 2015 to 2024.
Year by year
A step up that peaked in 2022, then fell
184 killed in 2022, the deadliest year, then down to 153 in 2024
The surge is a completed shift, not an open-ended climb. Arizona's yearly count held between 88 and 99 through the back half of the 2010s, then rose sharply: 125 in 2020, 152 in 2021, and 184 in 2022, the deadliest year of the decade.
After that peak it declined, to 167 in 2023 and 153 in 2024. The 66% figure compares two five-year blocks, and the later block still holds far more deaths than the first even after the recent dip. What the record shows is a step up to a new, higher level that peaked in 2022, not a line still rising today.
| Year | Arizona truck-crash deaths |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 94 |
| 2016 | 88 |
| 2017 | 99 |
| 2018 | 91 |
| 2019 | 99 |
| 2020 | 125 |
| 2021 | 152 |
| 2022 | 184 |
| 2023 | 167 |
| 2024 | 153 |
| 2015-2024 total | 1,252 |
2022 also recorded the most fatal crashes, 154. Source: NHTSA FARS, 2015 to 2024. Deaths counted once per crash.
The I-10 corridor
On I-10, four in five fatal truck crashes carry out-of-state plates
79.5% of fatal I-10 truck crashes involved a truck registered outside Arizona
Interstate 10 is the freight spine that carries Los Angeles port traffic across southern Arizona to Phoenix and on toward Texas. Of the 185 fatal large-truck crashes on it from 2015 to 2024, 147 involved a truck registered outside the state, 79.5%, nearly four in five. Those 185 crashes killed 235 people.
The pattern follows the freeways, not the back roads. Across all Arizona interstates the out-of-state share was 79.6%. Off the interstates it fell to 32.2%. Statewide across every road type it settled at 49.6%, about half of every fatal large-truck crash in the state.
| Road type | Fatal truck crashes | Out-of-state involved | Out-of-state share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate 10 | 185 | 147 | 79.5% |
| All interstates | 388 | 309 | 79.6% |
| Non-interstate roads | 670 | 216 | 32.2% |
| Statewide, all roads | 1,058 | 525 | 49.6% |
Out-of-state is a conservative floor: an unknown, unreported, or foreign registration is not counted as out-of-state. Source: NHTSA FARS, 2015 to 2024.
Read the trucks themselves and the same picture holds. There were 246 large trucks in those 185 I-10 crashes, and 190 carried out-of-state plates. California led with 77, the single largest source of any state, Arizona included. Indiana followed with 32 and Texas with 21. Arizona registered 52, and 4 could not be tied to a state.
This is a registration finding, not a blame finding. It says where the trucks in these crashes are licensed, and nothing about who was at fault. Families and drivers hit by a commercial truck on I-10 can see how these cases work on our Arizona truck crash lawyer page.
The honest limit
What the record does and does not say
Every figure here comes from one place: the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the census of fatal crashes on US public roads. We counted crashes that involved at least one large truck, using NHTSA body-type codes 60 through 79, in Arizona, from 2015 through 2024, then summed the deaths, counting each death once per crash.
The record identifies fatal crashes only. Every count on this page is a fatal-truck-crash count, not a count of all truck crashes, so we say "fatal truck crash," never a bare "crash."
The I-10 finding reports registration, meaning where a truck is licensed, not who was driving it or where the trip began. A California-plated truck may run for an Arizona company, and an Arizona-plated truck may be hauling a cross-country load. When a registration is unknown, unreported, or foreign, we don't count it as out-of-state, so each out-of-state share is a floor, and the true share is at least that high.
The surge is a completed comparison between two five-year blocks. It peaked in 2022 and has fallen since. We show the yearly line so the decline is on the page, not hidden behind the headline.
For the full case behind each finding, read our Arizona truck-death surge investigation and our I-10 out-of-state trucks investigation.
The receipts
Sources and method
Every count, share, and trend figure on this page is computed by AZ Law Now from a single named federal primary source: the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). The universe is fatal crashes that involved at least one large truck, NHTSA vehicle body-type codes 60 through 79, in Arizona, 2015 through 2024. Deaths are counted once per crash.
The surge compares the 2015 to 2019 period against the 2020 to 2024 period, for Arizona and for the nation, over the same window and the same definition. The year-by-year figures are annual sums of the same Arizona fatal-crash record.
The corridor figures split the same Arizona record by road type and, on I-10, by the registration state recorded for each truck. Registration reports where a truck is licensed, not who operated it. Unknown, unreported, and foreign registrations are excluded from the out-of-state count, which makes every out-of-state share a conservative floor. The statutes referenced in our companion investigations, the two-year personal-injury deadline under ARS 12-542 and the two-year wrongful-death deadline under ARS 12-611, trace to the Arizona Revised Statutes themselves.
This report packages two already-published AZ Law Now investigations into one data page and adds no new figures. For the full argument behind each finding, read the truck-death surge investigation and the I-10 out-of-state trucks investigation.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2025). Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2015 to 2024 [Data set]. U.S. Department of Transportation. nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars
- Arizona State Legislature. ARS 12-542: Limitation of Actions, Personal Injury. azleg.gov/ars/12/00542.htm
- Arizona State Legislature. ARS 12-611: Wrongful Death Action. azleg.gov/ars/12/00611.htm
Questions, answered
Frequently asked
How much did truck-crash deaths rise in Arizona?
Deaths in fatal crashes involving a large truck rose from 471 in the 2015 to 2019 period to 781 in the 2020 to 2024 period, a 66% increase. Over the same two periods the national total rose 17%, from 23,961 to 28,029, so Arizona's increase ran nearly four times the national pace. Both numbers come from the same federal crash record.
Is Arizona’s truck-death increase still climbing?
No. The 66% figure is a completed five-year-period comparison, not an ongoing trend. Arizona's yearly deaths peaked at 184 in 2022, then declined to 167 in 2023 and 153 in 2024. The surge describes the step up between the two periods, not a rate that is still rising today.
How many people die in Arizona truck crashes?
From 2015 through 2024, 1,252 people were killed in 1,058 fatal crashes that involved a large truck in Arizona. The deadliest year was 2022, with 184 people killed across 154 fatal crashes.
Do most fatal I-10 truck crashes involve out-of-state trucks?
Yes. On Arizona's Interstate 10, 147 of 185 fatal large-truck crashes from 2015 to 2024, 79.5%, involved at least one truck registered outside Arizona, nearly four in five. Across all Arizona interstates the share was 79.6%. Off the interstates it fell to 32.2%. Statewide across every road it was 49.6%. This reports where the trucks are registered, not who was at fault.
Which state registers the most trucks in Arizona I-10 fatal crashes?
California. Of the 246 large trucks in Arizona's 185 fatal I-10 crashes, 77 were registered in California, the single largest source of any state, Arizona included. Indiana followed with 32 and Texas with 21. Arizona registered 52, and 4 could not be tied to a state. In all, 190 of the 246 trucks carried out-of-state plates.
What counts as a large-truck fatal crash in this data?
A fatal crash on the federal record that involved at least one large truck, defined by NHTSA vehicle body-type codes 60 through 79. Deaths are counted once per crash. The source is the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System for 2015 through 2024, and every count is a fatal-crash count, not a count of all truck crashes.