Fatal Crash Risk Scorecard: Texas Counties with the Highest Per-Capita Fatality Burden

This scorecard ranks 73 Texas counties with populations of 50,000 or more based on a composite fatal crash risk score. The rankings reflect five years of crash data from 2019 through 2023 and measure annualized fatality rates per 100,000 residents across nine categories, including speeding, alcohol involvement, pedestrian fatalities, distracted driving, motorcycle crashes, and age-related driver involvement. Counties are ranked from highest to lowest overall fatal crash burden relative to similarly sized counties.

***The data on fatality rates was sourced from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Association's FARS Crash Data for the years 2019-2023, while population estimates came from the Census Bureau.***The analysis includes Texas counties with a 2023 population of 50,000 or more to ensure statistically stable per-capita comparisons. Fatality data from 2019 through 2023 was annualized by dividing five-year totals by five. ***For each county, annual fatality rates per 100,000 residents were calculated across nine categories: distracted driving, pedestrian, drowsy driver, speeding, pedalcyclist, driver age 65 and older, driver age 15 to 20, motorcycle involvement, and alcohol or drug involvement. ***Each category rate was normalized on a 0–100 scale across eligible counties. The final composite risk score represents the average of those nine normalized category scores. ***The overall fatality rate is included for reference but was not used in calculating the composite score to avoid double counting.
Chart: Texas Law DogSource: Texas Law Dog Download imageCreated with Datawrapper