Texas consistently ranks as one of the deadliest states in the country for traffic fatalities. With over 24 million registered vehicles and hundreds of thousands of miles of roadway, Texas roads see thousands of fatal crashes every year. The data below shows Texas traffic fatalities from 2018 through 2023 as reported by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Crash Records Information System (CRIS) and the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
2018
3,639
Traffic Fatalities
2019
3,615
Traffic Fatalities
2020
3,896
Traffic Fatalities
2021
4,498
Traffic Fatalities
2022
4,481
Traffic Fatalities
2023
4,283
Traffic Fatalities
2021 Peak: Texas reached its highest recorded fatality count in 2021 with 4,498 deaths — a 15.4% increase over 2020. The pandemic-era traffic patterns contributed to higher speeds and more reckless driving on less congested roads.
2022 Slight Decline: Fatal car accidents in Texas decreased by 0.36% from 2021 to 4,481 in 2022. Texas still had the highest total traffic fatality count of any state in the nation in 2022.
2023 Improvement: Texas saw a 2.8% decrease in fatal car accidents in 2023 with 4,283 deaths. Despite the improvement Texas and California were the only two states in the nation to record more than 4,000 traffic fatalities in 2023.
No Deathless Day Since 2000: November 7, 2000 was the last day without a traffic fatality on Texas roads. Every single day since then at least one person has died in a traffic crash in Texas.
Fatal Crash Rate (2022)
1.55
Deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled
Crash Frequency (2022)
Every 57 sec
A reportable crash occurred every 57 seconds
Rural Fatalities (2022)
51.42%
Of all TX traffic fatalities occurred on rural roads
Serious Injuries (2023)
18,752
People seriously injured in TX crashes in 2023