Marion County Traffic Deaths Fell to 81 in 2025, the Lowest in Five Years, TPO Safety Report Shows

Crashes on public roads in Marion County killed 81 people in 2025, down from 113 in 2024 and the lowest yearly total in the five years covered by the Ocala Marion Transportation Planning Organization's 2026 Commitment to Zero Safety Report. The TPO published the report on Oct. 6, and TPO staff are scheduled to present it to the TPO Board at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in the Marion County Commission Auditorium, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala, according to the board's Oct. 27 agenda packet.
The five-year totals remain high. From 2021 through 2025, the report counts 46,140 crashes, 489 deaths and 1,722 serious injuries on the county's public roads, an average of 98 people killed and 344 seriously injured each year. The figures come from Signal Four Analytics, the crash database run by the University of Florida's GeoPlan Center, and exclude private driveways, parking lots, forest roads and private roads.

Image: Ocala Marion TPO, 2026 Commitment to Zero Safety Report presentation.

At a Glance

• Deaths by year: 91 in 2021, 107 in 2022, 97 in 2023, 113 in 2024 and 81 in 2025.


• Serious injuries by year: 246, 469, 422, 305 and 280.


• Five-year totals, 2021 to 2025: 46,140 crashes; 489 people killed in 441 fatal crashes; 1,722 people seriously injured in 1,407 crashes.


• Who was killed: motorcyclists were 20% of all deaths (98), pedestrians 17.6% (86) and bicyclists 5.3% (26).


• Bicyclists in 2025: 20 killed or seriously injured, the highest yearly total in the report's summary table.


• Top factors in fatal crashes: 43% on roads posted 55 mph or higher, 41% involved an impaired driver, 35% of drivers killed were not wearing a seat belt.


• Board meeting: 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, Marion County Commission Auditorium, 601 SE 25th Ave.

How many people died in crashes in Marion County in 2025?

According to the TPO's report, 81 people died in crashes on Marion County public roads in 2025, the fewest of the five years from 2021 to 2025. The fatality rate fell to 1.57 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, from 2.15 in 2024, also the lowest of the five years. Serious injuries dropped to 280, continuing a decline the report traces back to 2023 after a spike to 469 in 2022.
The number of crashes did not fall the same way. The county recorded 9,201 crashes in 2025, nearly the same as the 9,192 in 2024 and just under the five-year average of 9,228. The report adds context: traffic grew steadily from 2021 through 2024, then vehicle miles traveled dipped 1.9% in 2025, and the crash rate per 100 million vehicle miles fell from 200.4 in 2021 to 178.6 in 2025.
Even with the drop, the county's five-year average fatality rate of 1.98 is above the statewide average of 1.51 for 2020 to 2024 that the report cites from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Who is dying on Marion County roads?

The report finds that 210 of the 489 people killed from 2021 to 2025 were outside a car or truck: 98 motorcyclists, 86 pedestrians and 26 bicyclists.

• Motorcyclists: motorcycles were involved in 2.5% of crashes but accounted for one in five deaths. About 29 people were killed or seriously injured per 100 motorcycle crashes, compared with about 5 per 100 crashes overall. Motorcyclist deaths went from 13 in 2024 to 21 in 2025, even as total deaths fell.


• Pedestrians: 17 pedestrians were killed and 17 seriously injured in 2025. The combined 34 was down from 44 in 2024, which the TPO describes as a break in a three-year rise.


• Bicyclists: three bicyclists were killed in 2025, down from 10 in 2024, but 17 were seriously injured. The total of 20 killed or seriously injured is the highest of the five years in the report's summary table, and the TPO's presentation calls it the most in any year, although one passage of the report's text puts the peak at 19 in 2022.


• Older residents: people 60 and older made up 32.7% of those killed, and males accounted for 71% of deaths.

Local cycling routes and trail options are collected in our biking in Ocala guide.

What are the most dangerous roads in Marion County?

The TPO tracks a High Injury Network of 38 road segments that was adopted with its 2022 safety action plan. From 2021 to 2025, those segments accounted for 144 deaths (29% of the total), 465 serious injuries (27%) and 41% of all pedestrians and bicyclists killed or seriously injured.
The report names the highest concentrations as:

• SR 200 (SW College Road), covered in our Highway 200 corridor guide


• SR 40


• US 27/301/441 (Pine Avenue)


• SR 464 (Maricamp Road and SW 17th Street)

The report's heat maps show the densest clusters of fatal and serious crashes in central Marion County along I-75, SR 200, SR 40 and US 27/301/441. Not all of the risk is on state highways, though: 53.3% of fatal crashes happened on local roads.
Two of those corridors come up elsewhere on the Oct. 27 agenda. FDOT is presenting a revised design for the Pine Avenue and SR 464 intersection, and its construction report lists a signal and lighting upgrade at SR 200 and SW 60th Avenue. Both are covered in our FDOT Marion County project update.

What factors show up most in fatal crashes?

The report breaks down the conditions behind fatal crashes from 2021 to 2025:

• Speed: 43% of fatal crashes were on roads posted at 55 mph or higher.


• Impairment: 41% of fatal crashes involved at least one driver under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both.


• Darkness: 39% of fatal crashes happened in dark, unlighted conditions.


• Seat belts: 105 drivers killed, about 35%, were not wearing a seat belt.


• Crash type: run-off-road and fixed-object crashes were the most common fatal type (19%), followed by pedestrian crashes (17.7%) and left-turn crashes (10%).


• Timing: March and May had the most deaths and serious injuries, and August had the fewest.

What will the TPO do with the report?

The TPO Board adopted Commitment to Zero, its safety action plan, on Nov. 29, 2022, with a goal of zero traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2045, according to the TPO's safety action plan page. The 2026 report lists six emphasis areas under the plan: building a culture of safety, managing speed, protecting people walking and biking, preventing run-off-road crashes, improving intersections and reducing motorcyclist deaths through gear and rider campaigns and driver awareness.
The TPO staff memo in the packet says the agency plans to update the safety plan in 2027. According to draft minutes of the Sept. 22 board meeting, which are on the Oct. 27 consent agenda for approval, TPO Director Rob Balmes said this year's report would help inform that update.
The full report, a summary, an online crash map dashboard and a new analytics page are posted on the TPO's safety action plan page. The Commitment to Zero dashboard maps every fatal and serious injury crash from 2021 to 2025.

When and where will the TPO Board discuss the report?

The TPO Board meets at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, in the Marion County Commission Auditorium, 601 SE 25th Ave., Ocala. The safety report is the first presentation on the agenda. Public comment, limited to two minutes per speaker, comes near the end of the meeting. The TPO asks anyone who needs accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act or language help to contact Title VI coordinator Liz Mitchell at (352) 438-2634 at least 48 hours in advance. The board's next regular meeting is Nov. 19.
For current lane closures around Ocala, see Ocala road work for Oct. 25-31. Bus routes are on our public transportation in Ocala page.

Sources: Ocala Marion TPO Board agenda packet for Oct. 27, 2026, including the TPO staff memo, the 2026 Commitment to Zero Safety Report, its summary and presentation, and the draft Sept. 22, 2026, board minutes; Ocala Marion TPO Commitment to Zero Safety Action Plan page. Checked Oct. 22, 2026.