Fatal crash profile · City

Traffic deaths in Santa Cruz, California

City in Santa Cruz County · California · United States

Deaths, 2024: 1
Fatal crashes: 1
Population: 62.6K

In 2024, 1 person died in 1 fatal crash in Santa Cruz, California. That was 50.0% fewer than in 2023 (2) and the fewest in any year since 2020. The death rate was 1.6 per 100,000 residents, compared with 6.1 in Santa Cruz County, 9.8 in California and 11.5 in the United States. Between 2020 and 2024, 16 people died, an average of 3.2 a year. That rate is based on fewer than 20 deaths, so it can swing a lot from year to year. Pedestrians accounted for 100% of deaths.

Deaths

Traffic deaths

1.6

deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024

About one-quarter of the rate in Santa Cruz County, California: 6.1
About 15 percent of the rate in California: 9.8
About 15 percent of the rate in the United States: 11.5

-50%

change in deaths from 2023 to 2024

2 deaths in 2023, 1 in 2024

Santa Cruz County, California: -36%
California: -7%
The United States: -4%

Traffic deaths by year, 2020–2024

Category	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2020	4	4
2021	5	5
2022	4	4
2023	2	2
2024	1	1

People who died within 30 days of a crash. A fatal crash can kill more than one person.

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Deaths per 100,000 residents, 2020–2024

Category	Deaths per 100,000
2020	6.2
2021	9.0
2022	6.4
2023	3.2
2024	1.6

Uses Census population estimates, available from 2000.

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Road users

Who died

100%

of deaths were pedestrians

About 3 times the share in Santa Cruz County, California: 31%
About 4 times the share in California: 28%
About 6 times the share in the United States: 18%

Who died in 2024

Category	Deaths
Vehicle occupants and others	0
Pedestrians	1
Motorcyclists	0
Cyclists	0

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Deaths by type, 2024
Type	Deaths	Share in Santa Cruz	Share in Santa Cruz County
Pedestrians	1	100%	31%
Motorcyclists	0	0%	13%
Cyclists	0	0%	6%
Alcohol-impaired driving crashes	1	100%	44%
Speeding-related crashes	0	0%	19%

Alcohol-impaired and speeding-related count everyone killed in those crashes, so a death can appear in more than one row.

Crash factors

Speeding, alcohol, night and weekend crashes

of fatal crashes were speeding-related

About 5 percent of the share in Santa Cruz County, California: 19%
About 5 percent of the share in California: 29%
About 5 percent of the share in the United States: 28%

100%

of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver

About double the share in Santa Cruz County, California: 50%
About 4 times the share in California: 27%
About 4 times the share in the United States: 25%

Crash factors in 2024

Category	Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz County	California	United States
Speeding-related	100.0%	50.0%	26.6%	24.8%
Alcohol-involved	0.0%	18.8%	28.8%	28.1%
At night	100.0%	50.0%	62.0%	53.6%
At weekends	0.0%	37.5%	34.4%	32.6%

Share of fatal crashes. Alcohol-involved means a police-reported drinking driver.

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Timing

When crashes happen

100%

of fatal crashes happened at night

About double the share in Santa Cruz County, California: 50%
About 1.6 times the share in California: 62%
About 1.9 times the share in the United States: 54%

of fatal crashes happened at weekends

About 5 percent of the share in Santa Cruz County, California: 38%
About 5 percent of the share in California: 34%
About 5 percent of the share in the United States: 33%

Fatal crashes by hour of day

Category	Fatal crashes
12am	0
1am	3
2am	1
3am	1
4am	0
5am	0
6am	1
7am	1
8am	0
9am	0
10am	0
11am	0
12pm	0
1pm	0
2pm	1
3pm	1
4pm	2
5pm	1
6pm	3
7pm	0
8pm	0
9pm	1
10pm	0
11pm	0

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by day of week

Category	Fatal crashes
Sun	1
Mon	2
Tue	1
Wed	4
Thu	6
Fri	1
Sat	1

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by month

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	2
Feb	2
Mar	2
Apr	1
May	1
Jun	3
Jul	2
Aug	0
Sep	0
Oct	1
Nov	1
Dec	1

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Conditions

Weather and light

Weather at the time of the crash

Category	Fatal crashes
Clear	15
Rain	1

All crashes 2020–2024. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Light conditions at the time of the crash

Category	Fatal crashes
Dark - Lighted	10
Daylight	6

All crashes 2020–2024. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Roads and vehicles

Where and what, 2020–2024

Roads with the most fatal crashes

SR-14
OCEAN ST3
BAY DR1
CENTER ST1
MURRAY ST1
RIVER ST1
SEABRIGHT AVE1
SR-1 HWY 11
SR-1 MISSION BLVD1
SR-1 MISSION ST1

Road names as recorded in police reports.

Vehicles involved, by type

Category	Vehicles
Cars	12
Pickup trucks	3
Medium and heavy trucks	2
Motorcycles	2
SUVs	1

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Vehicles most often involved

Reflects how common a vehicle is as well as crash involvement; not a safety rating.

Crashes

Fatal crashes

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Fatal crashes in 2024. Crashes without reported coordinates are not shown.

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From To

Who died Time of day Day Weather Lighting Vehicle type involved Make involved

Alcohol-involved Speeding-related Distracted driver

Date	Road	Deaths
Jul 3, 2024	SR-1 MISSION ST	1
Dec 20, 2023	SR-1	1
Jan 20, 2023	SR-1 HWY 1	1
Oct 27, 2022	OCEAN ST	1
Jun 26, 2022	OCEAN ST	1
Mar 31, 2022	BAY DR	1
Jan 4, 2022	OCEAN ST	1
May 27, 2021	SEABRIGHT AVE	1
Apr 14, 2021	SR-1	1
Mar 25, 2021	SR-1	1
Feb 18, 2021	SR-1	1
Feb 10, 2021	RIVER ST	1
Nov 5, 2020	SR-1 MISSION BLVD	1
Jul 27, 2020	WESTERN DR	1
Jun 27, 2020	CENTER ST	1
Jun 15, 2020	MURRAY ST	1

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Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2020–2024. A fatal crash is one in which at least one person died within 30 days. Population: US Census Bureau estimates.