Downingtown, PA truck route planning & crash data
Plan safer truck routes in Downingtown: commercial truck and garbage truck crashes in Downingtown and Chester County, dangerous roads, seasonality and route safety data for fleets. Patterns use Chester County numbers.
Where fatal truck crashes happened
Risk scorecard
Key findings
Snapshot
Crashes by month
Garbage trucks vs all trucks
1.8 deaths per 100 garbage-truck crashes vs 1.8 for all trucks.
Deadliest roads
How Chester County compares with Pennsylvania
Chester County against Pennsylvania and the US, 2015–2025 (years with complete crash reporting). Per-resident rates make big and small places comparable.
Where Chester County stands out
Full comparison
| Measure (2015–2025) | Chester County | Pennsylvania | United States | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crashes per 100k residents / yr | 43.3 | 57.2 | 49.7 | 24% below the state |
| Deaths per 100 crashes | 1.8 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 31% below the state |
| Injuries per crash | 0.42 | 0.47 | 0.49 | 11% below the state |
| Garbage-truck share | 4.2% | 3.6% | 2.3% | 1.2× the state |
| On snow, slush or ice | 5.9% | 9.1% | 6.2% | 35% below the state |
| Morning rush (6–10 am) | 29.2% | 24.5% | 23.7% | 1.2× the state |
| In rain, sleet or snow | 15.9% | 19.0% | 13.8% | 16% below the state |
| Winter months (Nov–Mar) | 41.7% | 42.7% | 41.9% | same |
| After dark | 17.8% | 24.2% | 24.8% | 27% below the state |
Compared with Pennsylvania, Chester County is lower on crashes per 100k residents / yr, deaths per 100 crashes and injuries per crash. It stands out for higher garbage-truck share and morning rush (6–10 am).
The headline for Chester County: January garbage-truck crashes peak in January (15% of the year's total).
Overview
Police reported 2,885 crashes involving commercial trucks in Chester County since 2015: 1,207 people were injured and 54 were killed.
That averages about one truck crash every 2 days in fully reported years.
Downingtown had 32 reported truck crashes since 2015, too few for reliable patterns, so the charts and findings on this page use Chester County numbers.
When crashes happen
Truck crashes peak in January (9.6% of the year) and are lowest in April (7.2%).
Winter months (Nov–Mar) carry 41.7% of truck crashes, vs 42.7% for Pennsylvania.
More truck crashes happen at 7–8 am than at any other hour (8.0%).
5.9% of truck crashes here happened on snow, slush or ice, against 9.1% across Pennsylvania.
Where crashes happen
Since 2015, fatal crashes with a large truck within 10 miles of Downingtown happened on I-76 (2), SR-100 (2), US-202 (2), US-30 (2) and US-322 (2); no road leads clearly.
Garbage & waste trucks
Garbage trucks account for 117 of the truck crashes here, or 4.1%, compared with 3.6% in Pennsylvania.
Their busiest month is January, with 15% of garbage-truck crashes.
Per 100 crashes, garbage trucks recorded 1.8 deaths compared with 1.8 for all trucks.
Route planning tips for Downingtown fleets
- Plan January schedules with more margin; it is the worst month for truck crashes in Chester County.
- For residential and commercial waste routes, look again at January schedules: garbage-truck crashes peak then.
- Morning starts matter: 29.2% of truck crashes fall between 6 and 10 am, higher than Pennsylvania.
- Use the free Route Planner to score your route and spot low bridges before drivers head out.
About the data
Crash counts come from the FMCSA crash file (police-reported crashes involving trucks over 10,000 lb); fatal-crash locations come from NHTSA FARS. Text on this page states only what these numbers show.
Truck crashes by year: all trucks vs garbage trucks
Seasonality: when trucks crash in Chester County
By hour of day
Most dangerous roads for trucks
| Road | Fatal truck crashes since 2015 (within 10 miles) |
|---|---|
| I-76 | 2 |
| SR-100 | 2 |
| US-202 | 2 |
| US-30 | 2 |
| US-322 | 2 |
| SR-1026 | 1 |
| SR-162 | 1 |
| SR-29 | 1 |
| SR-3 | 1 |
| SR-3070 | 1 |
Roads named most in all truck crash reports
| Road | Truck crashes since 2015 (Chester County) |
|---|---|
| I-6000 | 482 |
| SR-0030 | 219 |
| SR-0202 | 216 |
| SR-0041 | 204 |
| SR-0100 | 140 |
| SR-0010 | 96 |
| SR-0322 | 84 |
| SR-0001 | 84 |
Downingtown at a glance
| Population | 8,463 |
| Land area | 2.2 sq mi |
| Density | 3,868 per sq mi |
| Median household income (ZIP 19335) | $143,249 |
| Median home value (ZIP 19335) | $494,053 |
Waste facilities and haulers nearby
Historical data: truck crashes in Chester County since the 1990s
Combines the FMCSA crash file (all reported truck crashes, real coverage from about 1990) with NHTSA FARS (fatal crashes involving a large truck, 1982–2024).
| Decade | Truck crashes / yr | Change | Fatal crashes / yr (FARS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 208 | — | 7.5 |
| 2000s | 196 | -6% | 5.6 |
| 2010s | 199 | +1% | 4.9 |
| 2020s | 252 | +27% | 4.4 |
Reported truck crashes averaged 208 a year in the 1990s and 252 a year in the 2020s. Reporting practices changed over time, so part of any change can come from reporting. Fatal large-truck crashes: 5.5 a year in 2016–19, 4.4 a year in 2020–24.
Nearby places
Questions fleets ask about Downingtown
How many truck crashes happen in Downingtown?
2,885 truck crashes have been reported in Chester County since 2015, with 54 deaths and 1,207 injuries.
Which month has the most truck crashes in Downingtown?
Truck crashes in Chester County peak in January, with 9.6% of the year's crashes.
How many garbage truck accidents happen in Downingtown?
117 crashes involving garbage or refuse trucks have been reported in Chester County since 2015, 4.1% of all truck crashes.
How do truck crashes in Downingtown compare with Pennsylvania?
Per 100,000 residents, Chester County has 43.3 truck crashes a year; Pennsylvania has 57.2.
How can I plan a safer truck route in Downingtown?
The free Route Planner takes your stops and returns a route risk score, safer alternatives and low-bridge warnings.
2026 is a partial year. Updated October 2026.