Texas Road Safety Statistics – How Safe is it to Drive in Texas?

Every day approximately 18,510 crashes take place on US roads. These incidents are the leading cause of death amongst those aged 1-54 in the United States. That’s why we wanted to discover just how safe (or dangerous) it is to drive in Texas in 2021. We conducted a survey of 500 Texas adults alongside an online search analysis to give you all of the most up-to-date facts and figures when it comes to road safety in Texas.

Texas road safety statistics in a nutshell

• Almost 1 in every 4 people in Texas (23%) have been involved in a car crash
• 22% of Texas adults have experienced a ‘near-miss’ car crash
• More online searches are made for ‘tow truck near me’ in Houston than any other major Texas city
• And 1 in 12 Texans admits to driving whilst under the influence of alcohol. That’s nearly 2.5 million people
• Those aged 65+ drink and drive more than any other age group

Car accident statistics in Texas

The Texas Department of Transportation’s most recent report makes it clear that road traffic accidents are a huge cause for concern here in Texas. Their research found that as of 2020:

• A person dies as a result of a car crash every 2 hours and 15 minutes
• Every 2 and a half minutes, someone is injured in a car accident
• And every 1 minute and 7 seconds, a reportable crash takes place

But just how many people in Texas say they’ve been involved in a car accident? And which cities are the safest and most dangerous for drivers in 2021? To find out, we surveyed 500 Texans asking:

‘Which of the following have you experienced or done?’

• A near miss car crash
• Being involved in a car crash
• Driving after less than 5 hours of sleep
• Been passenger in a car with a drunk driver
• Driving after drinking too much alcohol
• Been passenger in a car with a drug driver
• None of the above

The survey was conducted on 27th September 2021 using Google Surveys and questioned 500 adults living in Texas.

Percentage of people who have driven after drinking too much alcohol

As you can see from the graph, our survey found that in Texas:

• 23% of people have been involved in a car crash.
• 22% have been in a near-miss car crash.

What’s more:

• 1 in 5 Texans have driven after less than 5 hours of sleep.
• 9% have been a passenger in a car with a drunk driver.
• 8% have driven after drinking too much alcohol.
• And 2.7% say they have been a passenger in a car with a drug driver.

Which cities in Texas have the most dangerous drivers?

To find out which cities are the safest and most dangerous for driving in Texas, we conducted a keyword analysis using the tool Keyword Finder. Our aim with this investigation was to determine which cities search for the term ‘tow truck near me’ the most, to give us an idea of which roads see the most crashes and damaged vehicles in 2021.

As you can see from the map and table above, our keyword analysis revealed that:

• People in Houston conduct more searches for the term ‘tow truck near me’ than any other major city in Texas, with an average yearly search volume of 36 searches per 1,000 people.
• Those in Killeen conduct the second highest proportion of searches for tow trucks, averaging at 22 searches per 1,000.
• San Antonio also appears to be one of the state’s most hazardous cities when it comes to driving, with 20 in every 1,000 people searching* this term.

Keyword methodology: We obtained average yearly search volumes for the query ‘tow truck near me’ in each of the state’s 20 most populated cities. We then divided this by the population of each city which gave us a figure that could be compared from state to state.

*It’s important to note that just because someone is searching for ‘tow truck near me’, this does not necessarily mean that they’ve had a car accident. Their vehicle could have broken down or they may just be wondering where the nearest tow truck is to them. What’s more, each search doesn’t necessarily correlate to a different individual, as the same person may search for the term more than once.

Drunk driving statistics in Texas

Did you know that on average in the US, someone dies every 52 minutes in a drunk-driving crash? But just how many adults in Texas admit to having driven whilst under the influence of alcohol? To find out, we asked 500 Texans about their experiences with drunk driving.

Our survey revealed that:

• 1 in 12 Texans admits to having driven after drinking too much alcohol, that’s nearly 2.5 million people.
• 1 in every 11 people in Texas has been a passenger in a car with a drunk driver.

What’s more, according to the FBI’s crime report:

• 1 in every 10 arrests made in 2019 were related to drunk driving offenses.
• Over 1 million (1,024,508) DUI arrests were made in 2019.

Are men or women more likely to drink and drive?

Historically, men have always gotten more DUIs than women, which leads us to believe that men are more likely to drink and drive – right? Actually, no. Recent studies have found that women are now consuming more alcohol than ever before. So who’s really more likely to drink and drive? Men? Or women?

To find out, we asked respondents to tell us their gender. Our analysis of responses found that:

• Women are almost twice as likely than men to admit to having driven whilst under the influence of alcohol.
• 10.6% of women in Texas say they’ve operated a vehicle after consuming too much alcohol.
• Whereas 6% of men in Texas say the same.

Recent studies have found that women have a higher risk of driver fatality than men at similar blood alcohol concentrations, including traffic collisions. This could explain why so many more women say they’ve driven after drinking too much alcohol, as they’re more likely to feel stronger effects of alcohol than men. These effects include delayed responses to visual cues and delayed reaction times, both which are vital when it comes to driving safely.

Gender of people who have driven after drinking too much alcohol

Are young people more likely to drink and drive?

Getting behind the wheel when you’ve had too much to drink is dangerous, no matter what your age. But which age group is most likely to do this? Is it underage teens? Or perhaps middle-aged adults?

To find out, we took a closer look at the demographic profiles of respondents from our survey. Our analysis found that:

• When it comes to age, those aged 65+ are in fact the most likely to drink and drive, as 12.8% of individuals from this age category say they’ve driven after drinking too much alcohol.
• The second most likely to drink and drive are those aged 35-44, of whom 11.8% say they have operated a vehicle whilst over the limit.
• Interestingly, our survey found that no respondents aged 18-24 feel they’ve driven a car after drinking too much alcohol.

Ages of respondents who have driven after drinking too much Alcohol

Drug-impaired driving statistics in Texas

As we know, alcohol is not the only substance that can pose a risk for drivers and fellow road users. In fact, our survey found that 1 in every 37 Texans (2.7%) have been a passenger in a car with a drug driver.

The survey found that women are more likely than men to ride as a passenger when the driver has been using drugs.

And that 1 in 20 (5.1%) of those aged 35-44 have been in this situation.

Driver fatigue statistics in Texas

Another major cause of car accidents in the US is reckless driving due to exhaustion, drowsiness and tiredness. Did you know that fatigued drivers are involved in approximately 10-20% of all road crashes worldwide?

Our survey found:

• In Texas, more than 1 in 5 adults (20.8%) admits to having driven after having less than 5 hours sleep.
• The age group most likely to get behind the wheel after inadequate sleep is those aged 35-44, more than a quarter of whom admit to this.

Who’s most likely to be involved in a car accident?

So now we know that women and those over the age of 65 are most likely to get behind the wheel of a car when they feel they’ve had too much to drink. But which gender and age group is most likely to be involved in a car crash?

Our survey found that:

• More men than women in Texas have been involved in a car crash. As 23.8% of men and 21.6% of women say they’ve been involved in one.
• Slightly more men than women have been in a ‘near-miss’ car crash.
• The age group most likely to have been in a car crash is over 65s, as a staggering 27.5% have been in a crash of some kind.
• This is followed by those aged 45-54, 23.4% of whom say the same.
• When it comes to ‘near-misses‘, it’s the over 65s age group again as almost a third (29.8%) have had at least one close call.
• This is closely followed by those aged 18-24, 29.3% of whom say they’ve also experienced this.

We hope these figures have been useful in helping you find everything you need on the topic of road safety and driving statistics in Texas.

If you’ve been involved in a car accident and want to find out more about your rights and how to get help from an auto accident attorney, visit our car accident hub here or get in touch today for a free case evaluation.