Three Locations in Top 15 for Fatal Accidents
You always thought that driving on the roadways in Texas was a little bit like traveling in the wild west. Now there’s data to support your concerns. A recent study reported in Forbes Magazine looked at the top 50 American cities by population, specifically examining motor vehicle fatality rates. Six municipalities in Texas made the list.
The Texas Cities with the Worst Motorists
The study by Forbes Advisor looked at five factors to determine the rankings:
- The number of fatal auto wrecks per 100,000 city residents—24% of total score
- The number of fatal car crashes involving distracted driving—19%
- The number of deadly accidents involving drunk driving—19%
- The number of fatal collisions involving speeding-19%
- The actual number of people who died in fatal car crashes—19%
All six Texas cities made the top half of the poll, with Dallas leading the Lone Star State with nearly 15 fatal accidents for every 100,000 residents. Fort Worth came in 9th, with 10.6 deadly crashes per 100,000 people. The other four cities included:
- San Antonio, ranked 12th nationally, with 10.46 fatal wrecks per 100,000
- El Paso, listed at number 20, with 9.3 fatalities per 100,000 residents
- Houston, 24th with 10.81 auto accident deaths per 100,000 people
- Austin, ranked 24th with 8.85 fatal crashes per 100,000 residents
Perhaps surprisingly, smaller urban areas tended to have the worst drivers. The top five cities, in order, were Albuquerque, Memphis, Detroit, Tucson and Kansas City. Authorities attributed the high rate of fatal accidents in Albuquerque to distracted driving, whereas the most common cause of fatal traffic crashes in Memphis was drug or alcohol impairment.
In the data collected by researchers, Dallas ranked 3rd for traffic fatalities involving a drunk driver and 4th for fatal accidents involving excessive speed. Dallas was also 7th in the actual number of people killed in fatal car accidents (as distinguished from the raw number of fatal car accidents).
Fort Worth motorists came in 5th nationally for the number of fatal auto accidents involving a drunk driver and 11th for the number distracted driver related fatal motor vehicle accidents.
Not all drivers in Texas are considered dangerous. In fact, another study published in Forbest found that Texas also had four of the safest cities for driving, including Plano (#2), Corpus Christi (#3), Arlington (#8) and Garland (#9).
Contact the Experienced Motor Vehicle Accident Attorneys at Bailey & Galyen
At the law offices of Bailey & Galyen, we bring more than 40 years of experience to motorists across the state of Texas who have been hurt in accidents or collisions caused by the carelessness of others. In our decades in practice, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for injured people throughout the Lone Star State and across the nation. We will be your advocate throughout the legal process, from the investigation of your accident to the filing of a complaint through trial and the final resolution of your lawsuit. Contact us by e-mail or 844-402-2992 call our offices at one of the convenient locations listed below. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
