Traffic Safety in the Region
The central Puget Sound region experienced a total of 205,093 injuries and deaths due to road crashes between 2016 and 2023. Furthermore, 1 in 16 people involved in an injury-level crash were seriously injured or killed.
Why is this happening? It’s not always clear, but there are a variety of contributing factors, often overlapping. These include vehicle travel in the wrong direction, speeding, inexperienced drivers, impaired users, distractions for drivers or others on roadways, running red lights and stop signs, and many more. PSRC evaluated crash data obtained from the Washington State Department of Transportation Crash Division.
The following key findings emerged:
Dive into the data
10 key findings
- Deaths on the region’s roadways have nearly doubled in the last decade. This is the wrong direction, and unacceptable.
- Bicyclists and pedestrians represent nearly half of the increase in deaths, with pedestrians representing the vast majority.
- Crashes are happening everywhere – in all parts of the region, but there are as many deaths in rural areas as in the biggest cities.
- Communities with lower income residents have 37% higher rates of serious injuries and deaths than higher income areas. Communities with majority people of color have 32% higher rates of serious injuries and deaths than the region as a whole.
- Deaths and serious injuries are 70% higher in areas with a majority of both people of color and lower incomes compared to the regional average.
- Native American and Alaskan Native community members are seven times more likely to die in crashes than white residents.
- Mapping crashes shows the most frequent fatalities and serious injuries occur on major arterials with higher posted speeds.
- The vast majority of crashes involve cars and light trucks. However, those involving motorcyclists have a one in four risk of death or serious injury, five times that of cars or trucks.
- In crashes involving light trucks and SUVs, pedestrian and bicyclist deaths are 43% higher than crashes involving passenger cars.
- The most frequent contributing factors resulting in deaths and serious injuries involve speeding, impairment, distraction, and failures to yield. Crashes may include multiple factors.