Staff presented the report’s findings to the Regional Transportation Council during a Sept. 14 meeting as efforts get underway to improve traffic safety in Dallas-Fort Worth. The Roadway Safety Plan, approved by the council in March, aims to eliminate fatal crashes from all transportation modes by 2050.
In a nutshell
Speeding was listed as a top contributing factor in crashes involving serious injury or fatalities in North Texas during 2022. It was listed as a contributing factor in about 30.56% of crashes in 2022.
Other factors listed include:
- Driver-related (inattention, distraction in vehicle, drove without headlights, road rage, followed too closely, cell/mobile device usage)
- Impaired driving (intoxicated driving, fatigued or asleep)
- Failed to drive in a single lane
- Faulty evasive action
- Changed lanes when unsafe
- Pedestrian-related (failed to yield right-of-way to vehicle)
- Disabled in traffic lane
- Driving in the wrong way
- Illness
The 12-county region saw about a 6% decrease in fatalities overall with about 864 deaths reported in 2022, according to the report. Crashes saw a 0.5% decline with about 125,530 incidents reported.Collin County saw an 11.63% increase in crashes and about a 50.98% increase in fatalities during 2022. Tarrant County saw a decrease in crashes and fatalities.The council of governments has made the full report available online along with a 2022 crash report fact sheet. The report includes crash and fatality statistics for the entire 12-county region.
Put in perspective
For comparison, about 115,684 crashes occurred in Harris County during 2022, according to the Texas Department of Transportation’s Crash Records Information System. Harris County is also the most populated of any Texas county. Nearly 4.8 million people were estimated to live there in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
About 2.6 million people were estimated to live in Dallas County, and about 2.1 million people were estimated to live in Tarrant County. Both counties are also counted among Texas’ top five counties in reported crashes.Looking ahead
The council of governments plans to use the Roadway Safety Plan to curb fatalities, according to its website. The plan, which is accessible via the council of governments’ website, identifies roads with the highest histories of fatal and serious injury crashes.
Eight emphasis areas were identified as part of the plan with strategies for reducing fatalities and serious injuries:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Impaired driving
- Intersection safety
- Bicyclist and pedestrian safety
- Roadway and lane departures
- Seatbelts
- Motorcycles
