Dallas fatal car crash rates in 2024 made driving in the rest of the country look safer than staying home

Dallas fatal car crash rates in 2024 made driving in the rest of the country look safer than staying home

The fatal car crash rate in Dallas puts the Lone Star State city ahead of Phoenix, Houston, and other cities with over one million residents.

You picked the safest car in the segment. You drive defensively and proactively, paying attention to the road at all times. It makes sense. Sadly, your best efforts might be moot if you live in a city like Dallas where the fatal car crash rate is no joking matter. 

Dallas isn’t just the deadliest driving city in Texas, it has the No. 1 fatal car crash rate of any US city with over 1 million residents

“Avoid driving in Houston at all costs.” That’s the kind of advice I bestowed on visitors to the Lone Star State. After all, I spent most of my younger years there and attended undergrad in Austin. However, my advice didn’t include Texas’ deadliest driving city: Dallas.

Dallas averaged around 15 fatal car crash deaths for every 100,000 people over five years. According to an NBC 5 investigation, that puts Dallas ahead of Phoenix, Arizona, the only other locale with over one million residents in the top 11 deadliest US driving cities. Phoenix, which has around 1.65 million people, has a fatal car crash rate of 14.59 per 100,000 residents, around 1.18 fewer than Dallas. 

By mid-December of this year, 207 drivers and passengers died on Dallas streets. That’s an increase of two over the fatal car crash stats from 2023. So why all of the death on Dallas streets? For starters, city and state government agencies identified Loop 12 as the city’s deadliest stretch of road. 

According to Texas State Senator Royce West, “Nearly 500 accidents involving serious injury have taken place on Loop 12.” And that’s in just five years. To combat the specific dangers to pedestrians, the government pledged to create “more than a dozen new protected pedestrian crossings.” Additionally, state government and law enforcement are working together to identify portions of the roads where speeds are too fast for safety concerns. 

City, State Rank Fatality rate (per 100K residents) Population (2023)
Memphis, TN 1 25.96 618,639
Detroit, MI 2 21.47 633,218
Albuquerque, NM 3 18.11 560,274
Dallas, TX 7 15.77 1,303,000
Phoenix, AZ 11 14.59 1,650,000
Houston, TX 19 11.36 2,314,000

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *