Unregulated vehicles carrying farmworkers are less safe

California law only requires safety inspections and certifications for vans or buses carrying nine or more farmworkers. Since the program was created, only one person has been killed in a crash involving that type of vehicle. In the last decade, dozens more have died in smaller, unregulated vans.

Data shows car crashes statewide from 2012 through 2023 involving at least one vehicle recorded by police as transporting farmworkers. The California Highway Patrol distinguishes farm labor vehicles as certified (type 51), uncertified (type 57) and unregulated vehicles that are not required to undergo safety inspections but still carry workers to the fields (type 58). For the analysis CalMatters updated one entry in which Highway Patrol said a farm labor vehicle was incorrectly labeled by responding officers.
Chart: Jeremia Kimelman, CalMattersSource: California Highway Patrol, Statewide Integrated Traffic Records SystemGet the dataCreated with Datawrapper