What are the deadliest roadways in Sacramento? City has highest fatality rate in California

Ariane Lange
·5 min read
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The city of Sacramento has the most car crash fatalities by population of any large city in California, with 14.7 deaths per 100,000 people. A new report found that the county as a whole was the fourth worst in the state, with 13.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022.

Within the city, the deadliest roadway was Interstate 5, with 17 deaths over the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, said data journalist Dieter Holger, who analyzed the data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for Consumer Affairs.

The group’s Journal of Consumer Research reported that fatalities statewide were up 17% in 2022 when compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2018.

Holger said the second-deadliest roadway in Sacramento was Fruitridge Road, which saw 10 deaths within city limits.

Sacramento has identified Fruitridge Road as part of its “high-injury network”: those streets with the most severe injuries and fatalities due to vehicle collisions.

This year, The Sacramento Bee has reported on three fatal crashes on Fruitridge: Jose Valladolid Ramirez, 36, a cyclist who was hit and killed on June 10, James C. Lind, 54, a pedestrian who was hit and killed April 9, and David Rink, 51, a pedestrian who was hit and killed March 23.

After Fruitridge came Highway 50, with 10 deaths over those three years. In the city, Highway 99 tied with Power Inn Road. Each saw nine deaths. Eight more people died on the eastern portion of the Capital City Freeway — the portion of the Business 80 loop connecting Highways 50 and 99 with Interstate 80 through the city’s northern tier.

Florin Road was the seventh deadliest, with five deaths. This year, Aaron Ward — a beloved older brother — died crossing Florin. He was 40, and had recently become an uncle.

Highways are not managed on the local level, and — with vehicles often traveling 65 mph or faster — they tend to see more severe crashes. But Sacramento has many surface streets where drivers can travel at lethal speeds.

And the state capital has struggled to reach its goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities by 2027.

At least 15 people, 12 of whom were pedestrians or cyclists, have died in vehicle collisions on city streets in 2024: Mattie Nicholson, 56, Kate Johnston, 55, Jeffrey Blain, 59, Ward, Federico Zacarias Cambrano, 28, Marvin Alcides Moran, 22, Sam Dent, 41, Daniel Morris, 38, Terry Lane, 55, Rink, Tyler Vandehei, 32, Lind, Ramirez, Larry Winters, 76, and Sau Voong, an 84-year-old great-grandfather who was out for a morning bike ride.

What are the deadliest roads in Sacramento County?

Sacramento County was the fourth worst in the state for fatal car crashes, with 13.6 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2022. San Bernardino, Fresno, and Riverside counties took the top spots for car crash fatalities.

Across the county as a whole, these were the deadliest roadways over the three years ending in 2022:

  • Interstate 5: 28 deaths

  • Highway 99: 27 deaths

  • Highway 160: 21 deaths

  • Highway 50: 20 deaths

  • Florin Road: 17 deaths

  • Interstate 80: 16 deaths

  • Fruitridge Road: 12 deaths

  • Elverta Road: 11 deaths

  • Power Inn Road: 10 deaths

  • Watt Avenue: 10 deaths

Statewide, the Inland Empire holds the first and second county spots for the most fatalities. A stretch of Interstate 15 in San Bernardino County led with 48 deaths as “the deadliest road in California,” while Interstate 10 through Riverside County was second, recording 31 deaths, Consumer Affairs’ report found. Fatalities on those two freeways jumped from 33 and 25 in 2018, respectively.

San Bernardino County was the deadliest for driving among the state’s 10 most populous counties, with 20.4 fatalities per 100,000 people in 2022, the report stated. That was followed by Fresno (19.5); Riverside (13.9); Sacramento (13.6); Los Angeles (8.8); San Diego (8.7); Orange (7.3); Alameda (6.3); Santa Clara (5.9) and Contra Costa (5.8).

By signed roadway, Interstate 5, the state’s major north-south arterial, was the state’s deadliest road in 2022, with 128 deaths, down from 150 deaths in 2018. The watchdog group did note “the number of fatalities still grew in many regions.”

Speeding was involved in around 31% of deadly car crashes in California in 2022, up from 26% in 2018.

Traffic safety experts say going too fast and driving recklessly began during the early days of the pandemic when freeways and roadways were wide open, leading to an increase in car crash fatalities. The problem hasn’t gone away with the pandemic, the report stated.

“It’s a crisis that needs to be reversed,” Timothy Weisberg, deputy director of marketing and public affairs at the California Office of Traffic Safety, told Consumer Affairs.

Other municipalities have demonstrated that traffic fatalities on city streets are preventable. Ravi Bhalla, the mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey — which has not seen a traffic death in seven years — said that in his city, leaders decided that road safety would be a high priority. Their resolve hardened after the death of Agnes Acerra, 89, who was hit by a car and killed in 2015.

“Her passing really underscored the need for urgent action,” Bhalla said. “We looked at safe streets as not just a quality of life issue for families and children and seniors, but also as a public safety issue.”

The Los Angeles Daily News contributed to this story.