Study Of Texas' Most Dangerous Intersections Confirms Houstonians Are State's Worst Drivers
Using TxDOT crash data, Houston personal injury attorney Brian White has created a series of charts that indicate that Houstonians are menaces on the road.
Using data from 2012 to 2015, Brian and data visualization company onepoint21 interactive found the 279 most dangerous intersections in Texas, Texas Monthly reports. Each crossroads experienced 40 or more crashes.
More than half—28 of 50, and 13 of the top 20—of the most dangerous intersections are in the Houston area. 19 of the top 50 most dangerous intersections involve Beltway 8, the Sam Houston Parkway. With 335 crashes and 263 injuries, its intersection with Bissonnet Street scored 1,124, a whopping 352 points ahead of second-place Hardy Road/Sam Houston, which just edged out Westheimer/Sam Houston.
One major factor affecting Houston is the removal of red-light cameras. HPD data contrasted crash figures from 2006 to 2010—when the cameras were in operation—with data from 2010 to 2014, after they were banned and removed. At the intersections that formerly had cameras, fatal crashes jumped 30%.
The data also shows Houston's number of alcohol-related crashes per capita was ninth of the state's 10 largest metros.
It's important to remember that data from TxDOT is likely to be biased towards toll roads and areas patrolled by state troopers. [TM]
