The last day without a single traffic death on Texas roads was November 7, 2000. TxDOT has said so for years, and the streak has never broken since.
Every spring, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) publishes a report that counts every police-reported crash in every Texas city. One report is a snapshot. Several reports, side by side, show a pattern.
We lined up four of them, covering 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The pattern is hard to miss.
TxDOT Accident Reports in Houston
Houston.
In every TxDOT report year we reviewed, Houston had more crashes than any other city in Texas. It was not close. Here is the head-to-head across those years:
| City | 2019 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Houston | 68,880 | 67,644 | 66,236 | 60,317 |
| San Antonio | 42,765 | 40,077 | 39,805 | 37,299 |
| Dallas | 36,875 | 31,678 | 26,109 | 24,677 |
| El Paso | 16,206 | 15,876 | 15,253 | 14,725 |
| Fort Worth | 14,870 | 13,445 | 12,865 | 15,680 |
| Austin | 15,891 | 12,138 | 10,791 | 11,032 |
Source: TxDOT, Crashes and Injuries: Cities and Towns, report years 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Add up Houston’s four years, and you get 263,077 crashes. That averages out to one crash about every 8 minutes, around the clock, year after year.
What the Record Shows
1. Houston’s Lead Never Shrinks
In 2019, Houston had 1.61 crashes for every crash in San Antonio, the second-place city. In 2025, the ratio was 1.62.
Six years. New roads, new rules, a pandemic in between. The gap barely moved.
That tells you Houston’s crash problem is not a bad year or a fluke. It is built into how the city moves.
2. Fewer Crashes, More Deaths
Here is the twist that one-year rankings miss.
Houston’s crash count dropped 12.4% from 2019 to 2025. But traffic deaths went the other way:
- 2019: 254 deaths
- 2023: 290 deaths
- 2024: 339 deaths
- 2025: 293 deaths
Put another way, here is how many people died for every 100 crashes in Houston:
- 2019: 0.37
- 2023: 0.43
- 2024: 0.51
- 2025: 0.49
The crashes got fewer. The crashes that happened got deadlier. Across the four report years, 1,176 people died on Houston streets.
3. Dallas and Austin Fell Fast
Two big cities saw sharp drops in total crashes between 2019 and 2025:
- Dallas: down 33.1%, from 36,875 to 24,677
- Austin: down 30.6%, from 15,891 to 11,032
San Antonio fell too, by 12.8%. Houston’s 12.4% drop was close to San Antonio’s, which is why Houston’s lead held steady.
4. Fort Worth Went the Other Way
Among the six biggest cities, only one had more crashes in 2025 than in 2019: Fort Worth.
Its crashes rose from 14,870 to 15,680, up 5.4%. After dipping in 2023 and 2024, Fort Worth jumped sharply in 2025 and moved past El Paso into fourth place.
Why Houston Keeps Winning a Race No One Wants to Win
The numbers change each year. The conditions behind Houston’s high crash totals remain.
Size and spread. Houston covers more than 600 square miles, with residential neighborhoods, business districts, and industrial areas connected by major highways. Longer commutes and heavy vehicle traffic increase exposure to collisions.
Freeways that carry everything. I-45, I-10, Loop 610, and Beltway 8 connect the Port of Houston, industrial facilities, warehouses, and employment centers. Passenger cars share these corridors with delivery trucks and 18-wheelers. Sudden braking, unsafe lane changes, and following too closely contribute to rear-end and multi-vehicle crashes.
Wide, busy surface roads. Westheimer Road combines multiple traffic lanes, commercial driveways, shopping center entrances, and busy intersections. Left turns, merging vehicles, and drivers entering traffic create frequent collision points.
Fast-changing weather. Heavy rainfall reduces visibility, increases stopping distances, and creates standing water on Houston roads. Drivers who fail to adjust their speed or following distance add to the risk.
But Houston’s crash totals tell only part of the story. A collision involving an 18-wheeler on I-10 presents different liability questions than a rear-end crash on Westheimer. Commercial driver records, trucking company responsibilities, traffic camera footage, and vehicle damage determine how investigators establish fault.
A crash on I-10 involving an 18-wheeler requires a different investigation than a rear-end collision on Westheimer Road. Trucking cases involve driver logs, maintenance records, employer liability, and federal safety regulations. Passenger vehicle crashes often center on distracted driving, speeding, failure to yield, and disputed insurance claims.
Houston Accident Compensation
The same differences shape how fault is established, and compensation is calculated. Ben Dominguez of Ben Wins has worked on Houston injury cases since 1994, including claims involving serious injuries and multiple responsible parties. His firm’s published results include a $12.5 million construction injury recovery, reflecting its experience with complex liability and substantial damages. For anyone researching a Houston car accident lawyer, that experience provides context for why investigating every responsible party, preserving evidence, and calculating future medical costs matter in serious collision claims.
Houston’s crash statistics identify where collisions occur and how frequently people are injured. Establishing legal responsibility requires something different: evidence showing what each driver did, which safety rules were violated, and how the collision caused the claimed injuries.
The Rules That Do Not Change
Crash counts rise and fall. Texas law after a crash stays the same, no matter the city or the year.
Stop. Texas Transportation Code Section 550.021 requires you to stop and help after a crash that injures someone. Driving away is a crime.
Report it. Section 550.026 requires you to notify police right away when a crash causes an injury, a death, or a car that cannot be driven.
Fault gets split. Under Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 33.001, a jury gives each driver a share of the blame. At 50% or less, you still recover money, minus your share. Above 50%, you get nothing.
Two years to file. Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003 gives you two years from the crash to file a lawsuit for your injuries.
Thin minimums. Texas Transportation Code Section 601.072 requires only $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per crash, and $25,000 for property damage. A serious injury burns through that fast.
People Also Ask
Which Texas city has the most car accidents?
Houston. It led every Texas city in total crashes in each TxDOT report year reviewed here (2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025), with San Antonio second each time.
How often does a car crash happen in Houston?
About every 8 minutes. Houston averaged 65,769 reported crashes a year across the four report years reviewed.
Are car crashes in Houston going down?
Total crashes are. Houston had 12.4% fewer crashes in 2025 than in 2019. Traffic deaths did not follow: they rose from 254 in 2019 to a peak of 339 in 2024, then came in at 293 in 2025.
Which Texas city’s crashes are rising?
Fort Worth. It was the only one of the six largest Texas cities with more crashes in 2025 (15,680) than in 2019 (14,870).
When was the last day with no traffic deaths in Texas?
November 7, 2000, according to TxDOT. Every day since has had at least one traffic death on Texas roads.
Where do I find the newest numbers?
TxDOT posts a new Crashes and Injuries: Cities and Towns report each spring on its crash statistics page. Each report covers the year before.
What should I do after a car accident in Houston?
- Call 911 and check everyone for injuries.
- Move to a safe spot if your car still runs.
- Photograph the cars, the road, the signals, and any signs.
- Get the other driver’s name, plate number, and insurance card.
- Collect names and phone numbers from witnesses.
- Ask the officer for the crash report number.
- See a doctor the same day, even if you feel fine.
- Skip the recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer until you get advice.
Habits That Beat the Odds
- Count to three. Keep three full seconds behind the car ahead. More in rain.
- Phone in the cupholder. Not in your hand, not in your lap.
- Respect the rain. Slow down before the first drop becomes a downpour.
- Give trucks room. If you cannot see the driver’s mirrors, the driver cannot see you.
- Beat the rush. Leaving 20 minutes early skips the worst stop-and-go traffic.
Houston Texas Car Crash Statistics
- Houston led Texas in total crashes in every TxDOT report year reviewed, from 2019 through 2025.
- Houston’s lead over San Antonio held at about 1.6 to 1 the whole time.
- Houston’s crashes fell, but its crashes got deadlier, with deaths peaking at 339 in 2024.
- Dallas and Austin cut their crash counts by about a third, while Fort Worth’s grew.
- Texas law gives you two years to file and lets you recover even if you share part of the blame.
The yearly numbers will keep shifting. The pattern has held for years: in Texas, no city puts more drivers in crashes than Houston.
