Austin, TX

History of Accidents in Austin

From 2014 to 2018 there has been a marked increase in the number of accidents occurring in the vicinity of Austin. From a 2014 baseline, where there were 4478 accidents recorded, figures rose sharply, first to 5980 in 2015 to a high of 6549 the following year. This sudden jump from 2014 is was line with national statistics as reported by the NHTSA, which reported a 7.2 percent jump in car crashes in 2015. Car crash volumes also increased in 2016 across the US as well, showing that Austin's rising accident figures reflect national averages.

However, accident rates began to decline once again after 2016. 2017 and 2018 saw only 6278 and 6005 annual accidents respectively. While this emerging trend is good news, Austin still saw 1527 more accidents in 2018 than the city experienced in 2014, which means that overall you're still more likely to get into an accident in Austin today than you were in 2014.  If this downward trend continues into 2019 and beyond, it's possible that accident rates may fall in line with 2014 or even dip below as it becomes safer to drive in the city, with driving forces like economics playing a role as it did in 2015.

History of Fatalities in Austin

Fatalities stemming from accidents in Austin follow a similar pattern, which includes a sharp early rise and then a slow but sure decline. There were 17 fatalities in 2014, yet in 2015 this figure rocketed up by nearly double to 33. Again, this is in line with fatalities across the US overall, as there was an increase in road accident deaths from 2014 to 2015 across the country.

Past this, however, fatality rates began to buck the national trend by declining for three consecutive years from 2016 through 2018. Annual deaths went from 27 to 22 to 21, something that doesn't necessarily agree with national averages; 2016 fatalities across the US were higher than those the previous year. However, 2017 fatalities were down across the board in the United States for the first time in two years.

It's gratifying to see that Austin's roads began to become safer ahead of the curve, though there are of course always going to be problems in large cities when it comes to fatalities. Many of these issues come from drivers using new technologies behind the wheel. An example is how distracted driving fatalities were up by 12 percent in Austin from 2016 to 2017, prompting new pushes from government officials to stress the importance of putting down your cell phone while on the road.

Other causes of fatal crashes, such as drunk driving, were also addressed very heavily in Austin. In 2018 there were 215 arrests for drunk driving in the 19-day span between May 24th, Memorial Day, and the last day of the Republic of Texas rally on  June 11th. All of this concerted effort has doubtlessly contributed to lower fatality rates in Austin as a result.