Some people in Texas may feel that the state’s traffic laws are quite robust. However, the reality of the matter is that too many people continue to die on Texas roads and highways. In fact, 2016, 2017 and 2018 were the three most deadly years in the prior ten years with more vehicular fatalities recorded in each of those years than in any of the prior seven.
Records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that 3,642 people were killed in automobile accidents in Texas in 2018 alone. In 2017, there were 3,732 vehicular deaths and, in 2016, nearly 3,800 people lost their lives in unnecessary crashes. This is in stark contrast to 2010 and 2011 when vehicular fatalities in Texas numbered just over 3,000 each year.
The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety recently released what is called the 2020 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, essentially a report card that rates each state and the District of Columbia based on the robustness of their respective traffic laws. A state could earn a green, yellow or red rating with green being the best and red the worst. Texas was among 31 states in the yellow category, indicating more needs to be done to strengthen safety laws. Only six states, one of which is neighboring Louisiana, and Washington, D.C. received green ratings.
The advocacy group that developed the report card evaluated laws covering distracted driving, safety seat requirements for infants and children, safety restraint requirements for adults, programs for graduated driving privileges for teenagers or other new drivers and more.
