Brownsville, TX

History of Accidents in Brownsville

Brownsville’s accident history over the past five years is an excellent example of the volume trends experienced across both the entirety of the state of Texas and across the United States at this time. Thanks to brightening economic conditions going into 2015, more people were able to afford to keep a car on the road that year, resulting in a large jump nationwide in the number of car accidents -- and with Brownsville going from 2536 accidents for the year in 2014 to 5920 annual accidents in 2015, this is a strong indication that the same forces at play across the US were working here as well. Yet from 2016 and beyond, Brownsville’s general accident volume trajectory begins to veer increasingly off course compared to US averages. There were only 5881 Brownsville accidents in 2016, down slightly from the previous year. This flies in the face of the eight-year peak in accidents in the United States for 2016. Meanwhile, the figures get even more skewed as the years go on. 2017 saw a national decline in accident volume as did Brownsville, but the city’s precipitous drop to 4377 is much more than the gradual one experienced across the country. In fact, 2017 had fewer accidents than 2014 in Brownsville. Not only that, but 2018 had even fewer at 4325, marking a five-year low. Meanwhile, the rest of the country saw a modest reduction from 2016’s high but, by and large, still had more accidents in 2018 than they did in 2014.

History of Fatalities in Brownsville

That’s not the only place that Brownsville’s accident figures over the last five years differ. When it comes to fatalities on the road, US figures mirror accident volume in that 2014 represents a low point, followed by a sharp rise through 2015 and 2016. The next two years see a gradual drop-off that is still higher than 2014 overall. Yet that’s not really what we see in Brownsville at all. In fact, the deadliest year for road accidents in the city was 2018 at 16 fatalities, which is one higher than 2016’s 15 fatal crashes. Meanwhile, 2015 was the least fatal year in Brownsville with just three deaths.

Overall, Brownsville’s fatality rate, like the country’s, has increased from 2014 through 2018, that’s clear. However, with each year seemingly reversing the trend set by the one previous, there doesn’t seem to be any indications of where the city’s fatality rates will head into 2019 and beyond. It also demonstrates that while the last two years in Brownsville might have experienced the fewest number of accidents by volume, the accidents that have been occurring may tend to be more dangerous overall.