Driving in Houston can be an epic test of both your patience and your safety. The Houston Chronicle reports that of the worst US commutes, Houston is number four behind Los Angeles; Washington, DC; and San Francisco. Every year, commuters here waste seventy-four hours of their life crawling through traffic. Along with high traffic congestion comes more traffic accidents—especially at intersections—where roughly one-quarter of traffic fatalities and roughly half of all traffic injuries occur.
When Houston traffic is not ground to a halt, too many drivers are blowing through red lights. The city ranked number one for red-light running in a National Coalition for Safer Roads study of 2003–2014 with a total of 181 fatalities.
Houston removed red-light cameras that it had installed between 2006 and 2010, and fatal crashes increased 305 percent afterward, while all crashes increased 186 percent. While Houstonians no longer have to pay the $75 red-light fines, they have to make sure that they are at the top of their defensive game to avoid the risk of reckless drivers.
Red-light running can cause many types of crashes, but common intersection wrecks such as T-bone and left-hand-turn accidents are also caused by poor judgment of other drivers’ timing. This is especially common with drunk or distracted drivers. Rear-end collisions and head-on accidents abound as well, occurring even when the eyes of drivers are removed from the road for just an instant.
The Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) specifies the difference between an “intersection crash” and an “intersection-related crash,” which includes the lead-up to or exit from an intersection. The data below contains both.
Many of these intersections involve wide roads and feeder lanes, which are frequent locations for quick maneuvers and dangerous merges. With Houston’s population exploding and there being constant roadwork, the problem will probably only get worse in the time to come.
These are the city’s most dangerous intersections as determined by data collected between 2012 and 2015 by the Texas DOT based on about 2,000,000 accidents. Crashes also increased throughout that time period.
Beechnut and Sam Houston Parkway – 189 traffic accidents
Main Street and South Loop – 206 traffic accidents
Sam Houston Parkway and Westheimer – 233 traffic accidents
Hardy Road and Sam Houston Parkway – 280 traffic accidents
Bissonnet Street and Sam Houston Parkway – 335 traffic accidents
To get the best outcome for your traffic crash or personal injury case, it’s essential that you contact a personal injury attorney right away. A trusted firm like Denena Points, PC will keep you from saying the wrong thing after an accident to an insurance company that could compromise your case.
Since most accidents are caused by recklessness and negligence, we know how to build the strongest case to get you the best outcome. In the event that a court case is needed, we’ll gather the evidence to seek the awards you deserve. Call 713-807-9500 or complete the form below for a free consultation. There is no obligation to proceed, so there’s no risk involved in exploring your legal options for financial compensation.