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Three of the top 15 cities with the worst drivers are located in Texas. As a result, there are more injured automobile accident victims.
Forbes Advisor’s recent study on driving behaviors in major U.S. cities highlights concerning trends regarding road safety. Analyzing data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the study sheds light on cities where risky driving behaviors are prevalent. And they appear to be in Texas!
Among the cities with the worst drivers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, takes the top spot, followed closely by Memphis, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, Tucson, Arizona and Kansas City, Missouri. Notably, three Texas cities — Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio — rank among the top 15, indicating significant challenges for drivers in the Lone Star State.
Dallas, ranking sixth overall, faces notable issues with drunk driving incidents and speeding-related fatalities. Fort Worth, securing the ninth spot, also struggles with drunk driving and distracted driving accidents. Dallas has the worst drivers in Texas according to Forbes.
Dallas distinguished itself with a concerning 6.25 fatal drunk driving incidents per 100,000 residents, landing it just behind Kansas City in the rankings. The city’s notable stats include:
Top 15 cities
The study underscores the link between dangerous driving behaviors and insurance premiums. Reckless driving habits, including speeding and distracted driving, result in higher insurance rates, reflecting increased risk for insurers and drivers.
The Fatality Rate on Texas roadways for 2022 was 1.55 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles traveled. This is a 1.99% decrease from 2021.
• Texas experienced a decrease in the number of motor vehicle traffic fatalities. The 2022 death toll of 4,481 was a decrease of 0.36% from the 4,497 deaths recorded in 2021.
• There were 15,299 serious injury crashes in Texas in 2022 with 18,880 people sustaining a serious injury*.
• The annual vehicle miles traveled in Texas during 2022 reached 289.965 billion, an increase of 1.66% over the 285.224 billion traveled in 2021.
• Fatalities in traffic crashes in rural areas of the state accounted for 51.42% of the state’s traffic fatalities. There were 2,304 deaths in rural traffic crashes.
• Single vehicle, run-off the road crashes resulted in 1,471 deaths in 2022. This was 32.83% of all motor vehicle traffic deaths in 2022. • In 2022 there were 1,030 people killed in crashes occurring in intersections or related to an intersection. • There were 636 people killed in head-on crashes in 2022. • There were no deathless days on Texas roadways in 2022.
• There were two crashes that resulted in 6 or more fatalities in 2022.
• Friday, July 22nd was the deadliest day in 2022 with thirty-one (31) persons killed in traffic crashes. September was the deadliest month with 427 persons killed.
• Based on reportable crashes in 2022:
♠ 1 person was killed every 1 hour 57 minutes
♠ 1 person was injured every 2 minutes 9 seconds
♠ 1 reportable crash occurred every 57 seconds
• Of all persons killed in vehicles where restraint usage was applicable and usage was known in 2022, 48.03% were reported as not restrained when the fatal crash occurred.
• 244,092 persons were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2022.
• There were 562 motorcyclists (operators and passengers) killed in 2022. thirty-nine percent (39%) of motorcyclists killed were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash.
• Pedestrian fatalities totaled 828 in 2022. This is a 0.24% increase from 2021.
• Pedalcyclist fatalities totaled 91 in 2022. This is a 1.11% increase from 2021.
• In 2022, there were 1,163 people killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes where a driver was under the influence of alcohol. This is 25.95% of the total number of people killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes.
• During 2022, more DUI – Alcohol crashes were reported in the hour between 2:00 am and 2:59 am than any other hour of the day. Also, more of these crashes occurred on Saturday than any other day of the week.
• In 2022, there were 484 people killed in crashes involving distracted driving. This is an 11.01% increase from 2021.
• There were no fatalities caused by a bridge collapse in 2022.
As you can easily see, Dallas/Fort Worth vehicle crash statistics and overall driver ratings by the recent Forbes study renders DFW as one of the worst driver and accident venues in the USA. As a result, there are many injury victims from automobile accidents in the DFW metroplex and in Texas, as a whole. If you were injured in an automobile accident, contact The law office of Aaron A. Herbert to ensure you rights are protected. Injured victims with personal injury legal representation get on average 3.5 times the settlement or jury verdict awards than injured victims without representation. Aaron Herbert is a board certified personal injury attorney who is well known for his litigation skills and negotiation prowess in obtaining maximum recompense for his clients. Only 2.5% of personal injury lawyers in Texas are board certified. Choose the best to represent you to get fast compensation and maximum benefits for your injuries, pain, suffering and out of pocket medical expenses.
More than a thousand people move to Texas daily, which means more drivers are traveling on our 200,000 miles of state-maintained roadways. To keep up with the influx, state officials spent $2 billion from 2015 to 2022 to make our roads safer.
Still, we averaged one accident every minute last year.
Texas envisions a future with zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries. It has adopted a “Road to Zero” goal of having zero fatalities on Texas roads by 2050.
So, how are we doing?
Texas Crash Data
Ever wonder what happens to crash reports after an accident? Where do they go from your local police department? The data from these reports, whether filed by police or self-reporting blue forms submitted by drivers to police, gets compiled into a database by the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT).
Those reports are then entered into the Crash Records Information System (CRIS), an extensive database maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation. It contains data compiled from all of the crash reports filed in Texas. As such, it is an exhaustive database from which useful information can be mined.
In this post, we will share our findings after doing just that. You’ll also find information in this post you won’t find anywhere else. For example, it is easy to track the increase (or decrease) in accidents based on crash type, but the information tells a much more useful story when you combine it with other sources of information, such as data on population growth in Texas over the same period.
So, without further ado, let’s jump right into a comparison of the 2022 data against 2023, the most recent year complete statistics are available.
| 2022 | 2023 | |
| Total Crash Count | 555,586 | 558,953 |
| Population | 30,026,547 | 30,500,000 |
| Non-Injury, Non-Fatal Crashes with Property Damage | 50,654 | 48,355 |
| Non-Fatal Crashes With Injury | 165,973 | 169,203 |
| Fatal Crashes | 3,965 | 3,855 |
| Total Number of Fatalities | 4,407 | 4,268 |
| Total Number of Injuries | 244,325 | 250,182 |
Overall, there were 3,367 more accidents reported in 2023 than there were in 2022. That is less than a 1% increase in the total number of crashes. There were 555,586 accidents in 2022 and 558,953 accidents in 2023. That translates to 1,531 accidents per day in Texas in 2023. That’s 10,748 accidents per week, 46,579 accidents per month.
That’s just over 1 accident per minute in Texas in 2023.
Let’s compare this against population growth. Texas, the second-largest state in the U.S. by both area and population, sees a vast amount of traffic on its roads each day. Texas grew in population by 1.6 percent last year, meaning it added more people than any other state in the nation last year according to the United States Census Bureau.
Although there were more crashes in Texas last year, the rate at which crashes increased was less than the rate that the population grew by.
Fatal Car Crashes Were Down
There were 110 fewer fatal car crashes in 2023 as compared to 2022. That is a 2.8% reduction in fatal car crashes even while the population increased by 1.6%. While even a single death is one too many, it is improvement that tracks the increasing safety measures we see in modern vehicles. Improvements in vehicle safety features and advancements in road safety measures have likely contributed to the reduction in fatalities.
The Number of Texans Injured in Motor Vehicle Accidents Went Up
There were 5,857 more injuries from motor vehicle accidents in Texas in 2023 than there were in 2022. That is an increase of about 2.3%, slightly more than the increase in population in Texas over the same period of time.
Remarkable Reduction in Alcohol-Related Accidents in Texas in 2023
There were 1,107 fewer accidents involving alcohol in 2023, representing a 4.4% decrease in alcohol-related crashes. The total number of alcohol-related accidents in 2023 was 23,844 which is down from 24951 in 2022. There was a massive reduction in alcohol-related fatality accidents. In 2022 4,756 people lost their lives in alcohol-related accidents. In 2023, that number was down to 3,547. This represents a 25.4% reduction in alcohol-related accident deaths in 2023, despite a 1.6% increase in population.
| 2022 Alcohol-Related Crashes | 2023 Alcohol-Related Crashes | |
| Total Crash Count | 24951 | 23844 |
| Non-Injury, Non-Fatal Crashes with Property Damage | 7170 | 6606 |
| Non-Fatal Crashes With Injury | 24921 | 24262 |
| Fatal Crashes | 3946 | 2916 |
| Total Number of Fatalities | 4756 | 3547 |
| Total Number of Injuries | 49529 | 47384 |
Motorcycle Accidents Increased in Texas in 2023
There were 278 more motorcycle accidents in 2023 than in 2022. This represents a 3.3% increase in the number of motorcycle accidents. 54 more motorcycle accidents resulted in fatalities, which is a 7.7% increase in motorcycle accident fatalities.
| 2022 Motorcycle Crashes | 2023 Motorcycle Crashes | |
| Total Crash Count | 8358 | 8636 |
| Non-Injury, Non-Fatal Crashes with Property Damage | 130 | 124 |
| Non-Fatal Crashes With Injury | 7595 | 7790 |
| Fatal Crashes | 662 | 702 |
| Total Number of Fatalities | 702 | 756 |
| Total Number of Injuries | 9542 | 9718 |
Tarrant County Accident Statistics
There were 29,043 accidents reported in Tarrant County in 2023, up 34 accidents from 2022, a virtual dead heat. There were 13 more fatalities from car accidents in Tarrant County in 2023 versus 2022. 2023 saw a total of 215 fatalities from car accidents.
There were 141 alcohol-related car accident fatalities in Tarrant County in 2022 and 21 less in 2023.
The number of motorcycle fatalities jumped from 40 to 54 from 2022 to 2023 in Tarrant County.
| Tarrant County | 2022 | 2023 |
| Total MVAs | 29,009 | 29,043 |
| Fatalities | 202 | 215 |
| Injuries | 15,831 | 15,698 |
| Alcohol-Related Fatalities | 141 | 120 |
| Motorcycle Fatalities | 40 | 54 |
Dallas County Accidents
There were 54,555 car accidents in Dallas County in 2022. There were 52,115 accidents in Dallas County in 2023, a decrease of 2,440 car accidents. There were 332 fatalities arising out of car accidents in Dallas in 2023, 10 more than the previous year. There were 551 alcohol-related car accident fatalities in Dallas County in 2022 with a reduction of over 200 alcohol-related fatalities in 2023, with the total for the year ending at 349 alcohol-related fatalities. The number of motorcycle accidents remained relatively steady. There were 46 in Dallas in 2022 and 42 in 2023. The total number of individuals injured in accidents went up by over 500, with 25,142 injuries in 2023 and 25,708 in 2022.
| Dallas County | 2022 | 2023 |
| Total MVAs | 54,555 | 52,115 |
| Fatalities | 322 | 332 |
| Injuries | 25,708 | 25,142 |
| Alcohol-Related Fatalities | 551 | 349 |
| Motorcycle Fatalities | 46 | 42 |
Harris County Accident Statistics
The number of accidents stayed relatively steady in Harris County. There were 115, 806 accidents in Harris County in 2022. There were 116,473 accidents reported to TXDOT in Harris County in 2023.
The number of fatal car accidents dropped from 559 in 2022 to 534 in 2023.
The number of alcohol-related fatalities had an even greater drop from 834 alcohol-related fatalities in Harris County in 2022 to 701 alcohol-related traffic accident deaths in 2023.
The number of motorcycle accidents went from 110 in 2023 to 100 in 2022 in Harris County. The total number of injuries arising from traffic accidents dropped by about a thousand from 2022 to 2023, going from 47,598 to 46,569.
| Harris County | 2022 | 2023 |
| Total MVAs | 115,806 | 116,743 |
| Fatalities | 559 | 534 |
| Injuries | 46,569 | 47,598 |
| Alcohol-Related Fatalities | 834 | 701 |
| Motorcycle Fatalities | 110 | 100 |
Bexar County Motor Vehicle Accident Statistics
The total number of accidents in Bexar County rose from 47,467 in 2022 to 48,690 in 2023. The number of fatalities from traffic accidents in Bexar over that same period dropped from 247 to 209.
| Bexar | 2022 | 2023 |
| Total MVAs | 47,467 | 48,690 |
| Fatalities | 247 | 209 |
| Injuries | 19,851 | 20,077 |
| Alcohol-Related Fatalities | 318 | 132 |
| Motorcycle Fatalities | 28 | 37 |
Even more remarkably, the number of alcohol-related traffic accident deaths dropped from 318 to 132, a reduction of almost 58%, the greatest drop in the cities mentioned in this article. According to the Office of Court Administration, in 2023 about 10% more misdemeanor driving while intoxicated cases were filed in Bexar County than were filed the previous year.
Bexar County offers reductions of first-time DWIs to Obstruction of Highway charges, but in 2023 changed their policy to no longer allow those if the blood alcohol concentration was over .15 or if there was an accident. The county reported a 3% lower recidivism rate for individuals who pled to Obstruction charges compared to those who pled to DWI charges.
Motorcycle accident fatalities in Bexar County increased from 28 to 37 from 2022 to 2023. The total number of injuries arising from traffic accidents in Bexar County dropped marginally from 20,077 in 2022 to 19,851 in 2023.
Dallas, Tarrant, and Harris County all saw reductions in alcohol-related fatalities and misdemeanor DWI cases filed. Bexar County, which had the greatest reduction in alcohol-related fatalities, had about 10% more misdemeanor DWI cases filed in 2023 when compared to 2022.
Statewide, filings of misdemeanor DWIs dropped about 3.4% while alcohol-related motor vehicle accident deaths dropped by over 25%.
Texas Department of Transportation’s Unified Transportation Program has a massive impact on North Texas roadways. TxDoT has earmarked $5.2 billion for projects in the Fort Worth area and $11.5 billion earmarked for projects around Dallas. This 10-year investment is part of $142 billion that will be poured into Texas roadways.
Overall, there’s much to be proud of. We’ve reduced the number of fatal motor vehicle accidents and even mores the number of alcohol-related fatalities on Texas roadways. While advancements are being made with technology in vehicles and improvements to our roadways, there is still a long way to go to get to the goal of zero fatalities by 2050.
If you want a board-certified personal injury attorney who is well versed in the Texas auto accident and traffic statistics to ensure your injury claim receives proper attention, contact Aaron A. Herbert to review your case. Our firm doesn’t get paid unless we win for you. With our representation, you are likely to receive 3.5 times higher settlement or jury verdict than if you represent yourself.