Sturgis Rally 2026: Crashes Down 25 Percent, Drug Offences Up

• 73 crashes in total, down from 97 last year
• 448,166 vehicles travelled to Sturgis during the ten-day event
• 108 felony drug offences, four more than in 2025

Every August, the small town of Sturgis in South Dakota turns into one of the biggest gathering points in the motorcycling world for ten days. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles roll into the Black Hills, and with them come crashes, traffic stops and arrests. The South Dakota Highway Patrol documents all of it in a daily statistic published as the Rally Tally. For the 86th edition, the numbers look largely positive, even if one figure stands out from the rest.

How many crashes were there at the Sturgis Rally 2026?

The Highway Patrol recorded 73 crashes, almost 25 percent fewer than the 97 crashes of the previous year. Three of them were fatal, 39 were injury crashes and 31 involved no personal injury.

The decline runs through nearly every category. The trend in injury crashes is particularly striking: there were 66 in 2025 and 39 this year, a drop of around 41 percent. Fatal crashes fell from four to three. Only crashes without injuries rose slightly, from 27 to 31.

The longer-term comparison also favours 2026. Officers logged 92 crashes in 2024 and 97 in 2025. The current figure is therefore roughly 21 percent below the level of two years ago.

Did crash numbers only fall because fewer motorcycles were on the road?

Lighter traffic explains the decline only in part. According to counts by the South Dakota Department of Transportation, 448,166 vehicles travelled to Sturgis during the ten rally days, almost 17 percent fewer than the 537,459 vehicles of the previous year, while crashes dropped by around 25 percent.

The 2025 benchmark is not a normal yardstick, however. That year the rally marked its 85th anniversary, and milestone anniversaries traditionally draw larger crowds. The five-year average of 498,042 vehicles is more meaningful, and this year’s volume was about ten percent below it.

The start was still busy. More than 54,000 vehicles passed the counting stations on opening day, and just under 59,000 on the following Saturday. Traffic then eased steadily over the course of the week. One important caveat: the counts cover vehicles at nine access roads, not individual people. An exact attendance figure cannot be derived from them, not least because many participants enter the town several times.

Why did drug offences rise even though the rally was quieter?

Felony drug offences climbed from 104 to 108, while misdemeanour cases fell from 266 to 221. The two categories are therefore moving in opposite directions.

The increase at felony level is small at four additional cases, but it carries more weight because traffic was lighter at the same time. Measured per vehicle, the rate has gone up. The previous years provide interesting context: the Highway Patrol recorded 163 such cases in 2024 and 104 in 2025. The current figure is thus still well below the 2024 level.

Impaired driving continues its downward trend. Troopers made 114 DUI arrests, compared with 119 last year and 155 in 2024.

How many citations did the Highway Patrol issue?

Officers issued 1,709 citations, around twelve percent more than the 1,524 of the previous year. The number of written warnings fell from 4,959 to 4,572.

This opposing trend is notable because it points to a shift in enforcement practice. Less traffic combined with more citations means that traffic stops more often ended in a formal penalty rather than a warning. On top of that came 228 custodial arrests and seized cash worth around 6,116 US dollars (roughly 5,230 euros). No vehicles were seized this year; in 2025 one was impounded over drug possession.

Sturgis mayor Kevin Forrester was already asked last year why arrests were falling even though traffic was heavier. His answer at the time: “I’d like to think it’s people behaving”. He also pointed to a practical aspect that officers had described to him. With smaller crowds, police simply get around more easily and can do their job with less friction, while heavy crowds have the opposite effect.

How did the local agencies fare?

Case numbers also fell for the city police and the sheriff. The Sturgis Police Department recorded 482 arrests, citations and parking violations combined, after 538 in the previous year.

The drop was especially clear for impaired driving, which fell from 58 to 37. The Meade County Sheriff’s Office responded to 1,200 calls, compared with 1,487 last year. Traffic stops and DUI arrests were down there as well.

What is known about the fatal crashes?

Three people were killed, in crashes near Spearfish, Hill City and Custer. The victims were a 63-year-old man from Connecticut, a 46-year-old from Minnesota and a 72-year-old from Oklahoma.

Another serious crash fell into the closing hours of the rally. On the morning of Saturday 15 August, a 69-year-old rider lost control of his Harley-Davidson trike, a 2018 model, on Interstate 90 between Box Elder and New Underwood in the rain. The vehicle struck a cable barrier and the rider was thrown off. He was wearing a helmet and suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. He was taken to a hospital in Rapid City.

What the statistics do not cover

The Rally Tally reflects only the activity of the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Figures from the Sturgis Police Department or from the sheriff’s offices of the surrounding counties are not included.

Two further limitations matter for context. First, the reporting period does not begin until 8 August at 6 a.m. and ends on 16 August at 6 a.m., while the rally already started on 7 August. Opening day is therefore missing from the tally. Second, the agency explicitly describes its figures as preliminary, because some crash investigations are still open and values can shift afterwards.

Despite these gaps, the overall picture is clear. The 86th edition was quieter than the anniversary year before it, and not only in terms of traffic, but also in terms of the toll on life and limb.

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