Car accidents can be fatal and life-altering events that can make your life comes to a complete standstill. Data from the World Health Organization shows that around 1.3 million people globally die from road crashes. Moreover, most people affected by fatal road crashes are young people aged between five to twenty-nine years of age.
People living in big and populated cities are at an ever-increasing risk from road-based accidents. And the US state of Texas is no exception. The Texas Car Accident Statistics throw up a sad picture of the state of traffic management in big cities.
If you or your loved one has been a part of an accident that has caused you significant damage for no fault of yours, you deserve compensation.
All That You Need to Know About Road Accidents In Texas
This article throws light on key statistics related to car accidents in Texas, and it also brings to light the need to be aware while driving or traveling on the roads.
How Bad Is The Situation?
The state of traffic management in Texas is terrible. Data from the transport department in Texas shows that one accident takes place in the state every seven seconds and that one fatal accident occurs every two hours and ten minutes. That is one hundred and thirty-five minutes. And an injury due to a road-based crash is reported every one hundred and twenty-two seconds, roughly your minutes.
The above statistics show that the situation is pretty bad, and the worse part is that things are not showing any signs of improvement. At the time when the above-mentioned data was reported, the number of accidents had shown a yearly increase of seven percent compared to the previous year.
What Makes The Situation So Bad?
Accidents happen and become fatal because both the drivers and the ones who are traveling in the car are at fault. For instance, one set of data shows that among the group of people who died after a road crash, around forty percent of them were not wearing seat belts.
The above data shows a gross violation of the mandates of the state traffic authorities, which make it compulsory to wear seat belts for the people in the car. If people do not buckle themselves up, they are expected to pay a fine as hefty as two hundred dollars at a time. However, despite such strictures, people tend to ignore traffic rules unless they become victims of a crash themselves.
Apart from not wearing seat belts, a large number of accidents are attributed to the reckless behavior of drivers who do not care for the speed limits while they are driving their cars.
Also, when the drivers are distracted, the poor pedestrians and the fellow co-passengers in the cars are highly vulnerable to car crash-related injuries.
Apart from the reasons stated above, there are several other causes of motor accidents. Some other leading causes of motor accidents in Texas are drinking and driving. Statistics show that more than nine hundred people die annually due to cases where the driver is inebriated.
Failure of car drivers to drive in a single lane, driving too close to another vehicle or a pedestrian, etc., are some of the other leading causes of road-based accidents.
To add to this, there is a huge problem in the area of teenage driving. According to the rules, a person in Texas cannot apply for a learner’s license before he has turned fifteen years old.
However, there are instances where the lower age limit for driving is violated. It is reported that people who are nineteen years of age are the worst offenders when it comes to the number of fatal road accidents that have been reported.
Which Places In Texas Are The Worst When It Comes to Motor Crashes?
When it comes to the area-wise statistic for road crashes, a lot of factors come into play. The population and the levels of economic development of an area are important determinants of the number of people who are injured or die in car crashes. It is obvious that urban areas and big cities have higher populations which means that they have more pedestrians who walk on the streets.
Likewise, big cities like Dallas and Houston also have more vehicles that ply the roads. All these factors make cities like Dallas and Houston the top-ranking places when it comes to crash statistics. However, the maximum fatalities are not reported in Dallas or Houston; rather, they are reported in less developed and rural areas.
The higher fatality rate associated with car crash victims in rural areas may be due to the poor health infrastructure facilities that are available in rural areas vis-a-vis big cities like Dallas and Houston.
However, if you are to compare only among the cities, Houston has the most cases of car collisions, followed by San Antonio and Dallas. Houston, on average, reports more than sixty thousand crashes in a year, of which nearly two hundred turn out to be fatal to those involved in the crash.
Conclusion
The above statistics have made it amply clear that road accidents are quite prevalent in populated states like Texas. The government has framed several regulations for improving the conditions of road safety and reducing the high levels of mortality associated with negligent driving practices.
However, if the data is to be believed, the high fines and government norms mean little to the people. But there is no denying that accidents are an expensive affair. If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a car crash, then you will have to pay for medical bills, and you may have to miss out on work. All these need to be compensated from the defaulter’s insurance cover.
But, if you are not careful in collecting evidence, getting compensation will be a tedious affair. So when you are on the road, try to be alert to avoid a crash, and if you do meet an accident, have all the documents ready to claim compensation.
