Texas traffic fatalities, 2015-2025: deaths, death rates and leading factors

Texas recorded 3,769 traffic deaths in 2025, according to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). That is 9.4% fewer than the 4,159 deaths TxDOT now counts for 2024, and the fewest in any year since 2019.¹

Travel kept growing. Vehicles covered 314 billion miles in Texas in 2025, up 1.8%, so the death rate fell to 1.20 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). That is the lowest rate in TxDOT’s comparison table covering 2003 to 2025.²

Texas traffic deaths by year

Deaths held between 3,585 and 3,794 a year from 2015 to 2019. In 2020, reportable crashes fell 15.5% and VMT fell 9.6% as travel dropped during the pandemic, yet deaths rose to 3,898 (Texas Mobility Outlook’s calculation from TxDOT’s tables).^1,3 Deaths peaked at 4,456 in 2021, the highest count in TxDOT’s 2003-2025 table, and have fallen every year since.

Fatal crashes followed the same path, from 4,028 in 2021 to 3,476 in 2025.³ Serious injuries, which TxDOT limits to incapacitating injuries, totaled 17,420 in 2025.² TxDOT puts the estimated economic loss for 2025 at $54.2 billion, calculated with the National Safety Council’s 2024 average cost per death.¹

Texas traffic death rate per 100 million miles

The rate compares deaths with the miles vehicles travel, so it separates safety from traffic growth. Texas VMT rose 21.7% from 2015 to 2025, while deaths rose 5.1%.¹ The rate reached 1.56 in 2021, its high point for 2015-2025, and has dropped each year since. TxDOT reports the 2025 rate as a 10.97% decrease from 1.35 in 2024.²

Who died on Texas roads in 2025

Drivers other than motorcyclists accounted for 1,840 deaths, 48.8% of the total. Pedestrians were the next-largest group: 695 people killed while walking, 18.4% of all deaths and 10.1% fewer than in 2024.^2,4 Pedestrian deaths had climbed from 562 in 2015 to 819 in 2021.⁵

Motorcyclist deaths fell to 559 in 2025, from 600 in 2023. TxDOT reports that 31% of motorcyclists killed in 2025 were not wearing helmets, down from 40% in 2023. Bicyclist deaths rose to 91, from 78 in 2024.² Local figures for people walking are on Houston pedestrian crash statistics.

Leading factors in fatal crashes in Texas

Officers record contributing factors on each crash report, and one crash can carry several. In 2025 the factor reported most often in fatal crashes was a driver failing to stay in a single lane: 744 fatal crashes, 21.4% of the total. Alcohol impairment was reported in 500 fatal crashes and failure to control speed in 463.⁶

TxDOT’s Crash Facts sheet also counts people killed by circumstance:²

• 906 people died in crashes involving a driver under the influence of alcohol, 24.04% of all deaths.
• 45.94% of vehicle occupants killed were unrestrained, where restraint use was known and applicable.
• 308 died in crashes involving distracted driving, down from 380 in 2024.

Speeding over the posted limit was a factor in crashes that killed 297 people, down from 377 in 2024.⁷

Single-vehicle run-off-road crashes killed 1,201 people in 2025, 31.87% of the total. Intersection-related crashes killed 955, and head-on crashes 555.² Houston’s most dangerous intersections covers the local rankings. Crashes involving commercial vehicles killed 528 people, detailed on Texas commercial vehicle crash statistics.⁸

Rural and urban traffic deaths in Texas

Rural roads had 27.4% of Texas crashes in 2025 but 50.1% of deaths.^2,3 About 1.1% of rural crashes were fatal, against 0.5% of urban crashes. The rural share of deaths has stayed near half for a decade, ranging from 49.97% in 2016 to 53.57% in 2018.⁵

Urban roads have far more crashes per mile traveled. On interstates in 2025, TxDOT recorded 143.95 crashes per 100 million VMT in urban areas and 47.26 in rural areas.⁹ TxDOT’s tables do not explain why rural crashes are more often fatal.

A daily death streak since Nov. 7, 2000

Nov. 7, 2000 was the last day with no traffic death on Texas roads, according to TxDOT.¹⁰ Every Crash Facts sheet from 2015 to 2025 reports no deathless days.^2,5 By TxDOT’s count in November 2025, more than 91,000 people had died on Texas roads since the streak began.¹¹

In 2025, one person was killed every 2 hours and 19 minutes on average. The deadliest day was Friday, July 25, with 25 deaths, and the deadliest month was March, with 380.²

Why TxDOT and federal death counts differ

Two official systems count Texas traffic deaths. TxDOT’s figures come from its Crash Records Information System (CRIS), built from the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report (CR-3).¹² The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) counts deaths in its Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).¹³

The two counts differed by 22 deaths or fewer in every year from 2015 to 2024 except 2021, when FARS recorded 4,500 and TxDOT 4,456. FARS data for 2025 were not yet available in October 2026.

TxDOT’s own count also changes as late reports arrive. Its 2024 Crash Facts sheet, using data as of April 9, 2025, reported 4,150 deaths for 2024. Its 2003-2025 comparison table, using data as of April 7, 2026, reports 4,159.^1,14 This page uses 4,159 because it is the more recent count.

Limits of the data

• Contributing factors are an officer’s judgment at the scene. They overlap and are not findings of fault.
• These are statewide totals. Local counts are on Harris County crash statistics and City of Houston crash statistics.
• TxDOT reissues earlier years, so recent totals can change slightly in later editions.