Cedar Park, TX

History of Accidents in Cedar Park

Unfortunately for the residents of Cedar Park, car accident reports have shown an alarmingly consistent trend--steadily upward.

The start of our five-year recording period, 2014, saw the lowest annual number of accidents, with 696 accidents in total. The following year, 2015, saw a moderate increase to 724 accidents.

But the biggest year-to-year leap in the number of accidents came in 2016, when the annual reported accidents rose almost 100 accidents higher than the previous year to 823 accidents.

The year 2017 saw a slight decrease in the number of accidents (809 in total) though not enough to be statistically significant. However, the year 2018 saw the most accidents of the whole five years, with 841 accidents.

What’s interesting is that the accident rate in Cedar Park is almost inversely related to the unemployment rate--the unemployment rate for the county went down at the same time the rate of accidents Cedar Park went up.

One economic theory says that dropping unemployment goes hand-in-hand with an increase in the number of car accidents--in a state like Texas, where most people get around by car, people have to drive to get to work. The more people driving to work, the more people on the road, and the more accidents that could occur each day.

If Cedar Park is any indication, that theory looks surprisingly accurate.

However, a more direct culprit in rising accident rates may be the construction projects happening in Cedar Park--many of which are due to be completed in 2019.

Take for example the New Hope Drive Extension which is meant to improve the capacity of traffic traveling east and west through the city. This project alone covers several expansions, including:

• Installation of new water and wastewater lines
• Construction of four additional lanes from Ronald Reagan to Cottonwood Creek Trail
• Construction of a shared median
• Addition of street lighting
• An extension of Arrow Point Drive
• Installation of a traffic signal at the Ronald Reagan intersection
• Construction of a shared-use path alongside the roadway's southern side

This project is due to finish in spring of 2019. In the meantime, the flow of traffic along this road was seriously disrupted by construction, increasing the risk of potential accidents.

The New Hope Drive Extension is just one of several projects designed to help the city address traffic problems. Cedar Park has grown significantly in the past several years--and with that growth, an increase in traffic.

As such, the city drew up several construction plans and capital improvement proposals to address the problem. In the interim, however, residents have to deal with a spike in traffic--and a spike in accidents.

History of Fatalities in Cedar Park

Sadly for Cedar Park residents, the recorded rate of fatal accidents follows a trend corresponding to the overall number of accidents. On the other hand, the annual number of recorded fatal accidents in the area is surprisingly low given the number of accidents that occur each year.

The years 2014 and 2017 saw the fewest fatal accidents in the last five years, with just two fatal accidents apiece. 2015 and 2016 stayed consistent with three fatal accidents each. The most fatal accidents occurred in 2018, with five fatal accidents in total.

In summary, the accident rate is surprisingly consistent but is on an uptick. Hopefully, 2019 sees fewer fatal accidents than in 2019.