Arlington, TX

History of Accidents in Arlington

From 2014 through 2018, the number of annual accidents occurring in Arlington has, overall, been on the rise. Yearly figures for 2014 saw 3,988 accidents occur, while that rose to 4,730 over the next 12 months. This trend continued upward for 2016, as there were 5,461 accidents recorded in Arlington that year, which represents a high point for the entire five year period.

This turns out to have been more than just a local trend, as cities all over the United States saw their accident rates go up going into 2015 and through 2016. The impetus behind the sudden increase, according to many traffic safety experts, can be traced to an improving economy of all things. With economic conditions improving across the country at that time, more Americans had extra money in their pockets. Combine that with dramatically lowered gas prices at the time and it became much less expensive to drive a vehicle. This resulted in more people on the road, and this sheer volume of drivers led to more accidents being likely to occur.

Changing economic conditions and crackdowns on things like drunk and distracted driving helped slow down these rising accident rates in Arlinton and beyond. Indeed, accident rates began to level off in 2017, as there were just 5,124 recorded accidents in Arlington. 2018's figures remained relatively unchanged, with just 5,156 for the year. These are indeed improved from the 2016 high point in Arlington. At the same time, though, this is still much higher than 2014's initial figures, lending credence to the fact that overall it's more likely to be in an accident in Arlington today than in the past.

History of Fatalities in Arlington

Fatality rates in Arlington are only slightly correlated with the number of accidents occurring in the city over the last five-year period. There were 20 deaths in 2014, and while this rose to 24 deaths the next year, the next three years would see these fatality rates decline. In fact, 2016 saw fatalities return to 20, while 2017 and 2018 were actually less fatal than 2014 with just 19 and 17 deaths respectively. This makes it clear that, over the last five years at least, the likelihood of getting into an accident in Arlington has little to do with the likelihood that that accident will be serious enough to lead to death.

However, what this does represent is a slow-but-sure reduction in fatalities across the entire Lone Star State, as TxDOT has published statistics saying that fatalities are on the decline from previous years. With Arlington in line with these statewide statistics, the city is likely to continue to adhere closely to not just fatality rates but also overall accident rates as well. Arlington-specific conditions, such as a new road improvement project that will update major traffic arteries in the city, may also contribute to Arlington's roads continuing to get safer over time.