Arizona's Deadliest Year for Older Drivers Just Happened
Arizona Data Desk
281
people 65 and older died on Arizona roads in 2024, the most in 25 years of records
It is the third record year in a row for older drivers and riders. Total road deaths in Arizona fell that same year, from 1,308 to 1,229.
Our record, Arizona · 2000-2024
Arizona's roads got a little safer in 2024. Total deaths fell to 1,229, down from 1,308 the year before. For one group, the opposite happened. 281 people 65 and older died in Arizona crashes that year. That is more than any year in 25 years of federal fatal-crash records. It beats 2023, which beat 2022. Three record years in a row, while the state's overall count went down.
The two lines are moving apart. Total road deaths in Arizona sit close to flat since 2000. They went from 1,036 to 1,229. Deaths among older drivers and riders have almost doubled in that same span, from 164 to 281. Older Arizonans are not driving more of the state's crashes by accident. They are carrying a growing share of a death toll that stopped growing everywhere else.
Twenty-five years, one line that keeps climbing
Arizona road deaths, people 65 and older, by year
Some years dip. None of them come close to erasing the climb. 2024 stands at the far right of the chart, the tallest bar the record has ever drawn for this group.
Nearly 1 in 4 people killed on Arizona roads is now 65 or older
Older Arizonans are also a bigger slice of every death the state counts. In 2000, they were about 1 in 6. Now they are nearly 1 in 4.
Our record, Arizona, 2000 and 2024.
Arizona is getting older. Its roads and its drivers have not caught up. More older adults on the road was always coming. A death toll that grows faster than that is a different problem. It points to road design and vehicle size. It also points to how fast an older body recovers from a crash, not just who is driving.
What the record can and can't say
This record counts deaths. It does not say who caused each crash. People 65 and older are more likely to die from injuries a younger body survives. A rising count is not proof that older drivers cause more crashes. It is proof that more of them are dying in the crashes Arizona already has. See our broader crash picture and state-by-state rankings for how Arizona compares.
Naming the trend is the first step. It tells families, doctors, and road planners where the next crash is more likely to be fatal, and for whom.
Citation
injured.org, “Arizona's Deadliest Year for Older Drivers Just Happened,” analysis of our national crash record, Arizona, 2000-2024. https://injured.org/data/arizona-older-drivers-deadliest-year-on-record/
Methodology
We pulled this from FARS, NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2000-2024. Read the full methodology →
Updated July 2026
We counted every Arizona crash death where the person killed was 65 or older, by year. The all-Arizona and national comparisons use the same fatal-crash count with no age filter. Full source detail lives on our data sources page.