Tacoma truck crashes hit decade low, but safety risks remain

Tacoma saw fatal and serious injury crashes fall to decade lows in 2025, according to Washington State Department of Transportation data. D’Amore Law Group says the drop is encouraging, but heavy truck traffic on routes like I-5 still leaves drivers, cyclists and pedestrians exposed to serious danger. Why it matters: - Tacoma’s crash totals show improvement in 2025, but the city still faces a persistent safety problem on roads used by freight traffic. - Truck collisions can cause catastrophic injuries because commercial vehicles can weigh up to 80,000 pounds under federal limits. - The data matters for anyone driving, biking or walking in Pierce County and the greater Puget Sound region. What happened: - Washington State Department of Transportation data show Tacoma recorded 15 fatal crashes and 87 serious injury crashes in 2025. - Commercial truck crashes in Tacoma totaled 150 in 2025. - The 2025 crash figures marked the lowest levels in a decade for fatal crashes, serious injury crashes and truck crashes. The details: - Fatal crashes reached a 10-year high of 30 in 2024 before dropping in 2025. - Serious injury crashes peaked at 124 in 2023 before declining to 87 in 2025. - From 2016 through 2024, Tacoma showed a general rise in both fatal and serious injury crashes before the 2025 reversal. - Over the 10-year span from 2016 through 2025, Tacoma had 200 fatal crashes and 885 serious injury crashes. - That works out to averages of 20 fatal crashes and 88.5 serious injury crashes per year. - The 2025 serious injury total was close to the long-run average, while the fatal crash total was below average. - Tacoma recorded 2,089 commercial truck crashes from 2016 through 2025, an average of nearly 209 per year. - Truck crashes peaked at 290 in 2017 before trending downward. - Tacoma’s freight role keeps commercial truck traffic heavy on local roads, including the I-5 corridor. - D’Amore Law Group says collision risks rise when driver fatigue, distracted driving, improper cargo loading, poor maintenance or hours-of-service violations are involved. Between the lines: - The drop in 2025 may be a temporary improvement rather than a durable shift, given the longer pattern of rising crashes before last year. - Even at the lowest point in the decade, 150 truck crashes still represent meaningful exposure to severe harm because large-truck collisions tend to be high-impact events. - Truck crash claims are more complex than ordinary car wreck cases because they can involve multiple potentially liable parties and federal safety rules. What’s next: - D’Amore Law Group says its Tacoma truck accident lawyers continue to represent crash victims and families in Pierce County and across the region. - The firm points to federal regulations covering hours of service, maintenance, driver qualification and cargo securement as key issues in future truck cases. - Tom D’Amore cites a 2019 $26.5 million jury verdict in an Oregon trucking case as part of the firm’s track record in commercial vehicle litigation. - D’Amore Law Group says Tom D’Amore is one of the few attorneys in the Pacific Northwest certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in truck accident law. The bottom line: - Tacoma’s 2025 crash numbers improved, but the city’s truck-heavy road network keeps serious injury and fatal collision risks firmly in view.