Georgetown, TX

History of Accidents in Georgetown

Georgetown is often reviewed as one of the best places to live in Texas, situated in the highly coveted Texas Hill Country. It's also one of the larger cities in the greater Austin area, centrally located in the state and within relatively easy driving distance of Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston.

Unfortunately, this also means that Georgetown's traffic accident rate is relatively high, given the number of residents who commute for work each day.

At the start of our five-year recording period, Georgetown saw relatively moderate accident rates (for Georgetown, anyway) with 1,137 accidents that year. In 2015, there was a sharp dropoff in the number of accidents to just 993, the lowest number of accidents in our recording period.

Sadly for Georgetown residents, it only goes up from there.

In 2016, there were 1,106 accidents, making up for most of what was lost in 2015. The following year, 2017, was almost equal to the start of our recording period with 1,149 accidents.

2018 saw the most accidents of the whole five years, with 1,197 accidents that year. The good news is that the rate of increase isn't by leaps and bounds, though the increase is nonetheless noticeable.

This is likely due to the fact that Georgetown is the sixth-fastest growing city in the United States, with a growth rate of 5.4% from July 2016 to July 2017. That growth spurt began in 2015--the lowest accident year for the whole period and the start of a steady upward trend in accidents.

This growth is great news for residents who can see Georgetown flourish. But it's not such great news for Georgetown traffic--or accidents.

History of Fatalities in Georgetown

That growth rate and rise in accidents also translate into Georgetown's rate of fatal accidents. In fact, the rate of fatal accidents has similar growth and decline patterns when viewed alongside the overall accident rate.

In 2014, there were five fatal accidents in Georgetown. The following year, 2015, saw a sharp decline similar to the overall accident rate, with just one fatal accident.

The fatal accident rate went up again in 2016, with three fatal accidents, followed by another increase in 2017 to six fatal accidents, the most in our five-year record. Fortunately, the fatal accident rate went down again by half last year, with just three fatal accidents in 2018.

If there is good news for Georgetown residents, it's that Austin fatality rates don't seem to be spilling over into Georgetown, regardless of the number of commuters. Georgetown saw the fewest fatalities in 2015, the same year that Austin saw the most fatalities of our recording period.

The other good news is that Georgetown's fatal accidents each year are nowhere near the numbers that are seen in Austin--a tiny fraction of the accident numbers, in fact.

Either way, fatal accidents in Georgetown have been on the rise the past few years. There are a number of theories as to why fatal accidents are increasing, though the most commonly-blamed culprit is drunk driving. Another common issue is speeding and a lack of proper seatbelt etiquette while on the road.