Texas experiences some of the worst injuries and the highest percentage of fatalities in car accidents. Every day, people are killed in accidents on Texas roads, particularly in West Texas. If you are a driver, it is important to know the risks of the roads and what the most dangerous highways are in West Texas.
Based on Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) data, a car accident fatality occurs on average every two hours, an injury every two minutes, and a crash every minute. These are some of the highest numbers of car accidents in the United States, with the last reporting year showing that Texas alone accounted for 10% of the nation’s traffic fatalities. There is one highway that stands apart when it comes to treacherous stretches of road in West Texas.
US Route 285, Also Known as Death Highway
By far the most dangerous stretch of highway in West Texas, U.S. Route 285, is known by many as “Death Highway.” This rural route connecting Pecos, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico sees hundreds of thousands of cars every year. Built originally in 1926 to handle rural traffic, the highway is now a main transportation connection for commercial trucks driving between West Texas and New Mexico oil fields.
The stretch of road runs right through the Permian Basin, which is a natural land formation representing the largest oil-producing area in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In the most recent reporting year, the oil fields in the Permian Basin accounted for roughly 30% of crude oil production in the country. This brings in a huge amount of industry for Texas, and also more heavy equipment, tractor-trailers, and large trucks carrying materials to and from the oil fields on Route 285. This rural route was not built for heavy traffic and desperately needs infrastructure improvement, which would require heavy taxing in the small communities in West Texas.
Reasons for accidents include the road infrastructure itself, as well as other factors like speed limits as high as 75 miles per hour and reckless speeding.
Drivers can also be fatigued from working long days for weeks on end in the oil fields and surviving on four or five hours of sleep just trying to make it home. Commercial truck drivers have also been flocking to this area to keep up with the demand caused by the oil industry, allowing younger, less experienced drivers with little training to handle oversized vehicles.
Midland County Roads
In addition to U.S. Route 285, Midland County roads, in general, suffer from a lack of infrastructure support and persistently dangerous conditions. Rural roads often degrade as taxes focus on higher-congested areas and bigger cities, but rural Texas gets the worst of it. Sinkholes occur relatively often in the area, which some people blame on oil wells and fracking. These sinkholes can create cracks and gaping holes at times spanning the width of the road, creating dangerous roadway conditions for drivers, especially at night. Their reduced visibility does not allow drivers to brake in time.
While accident numbers have improved slightly since 2013, Midland County averaged about one traffic fatality a week during that year, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. Many of these fatal accidents occurred on the rural Farm-to-Market Road 1788 and State Highway 158. Reckless driving, weather conditions, and veering into oncoming traffic seem to be common threads of these Midland County fatal car accidents.
Rural highways tend to see higher speeds, lower roadway lighting, and narrower road surfaces. These contribute to accidents caused by reckless, fatigued, inebriated, or otherwise impaired drivers. Drivers on rural roads are also less likely to wear seatbelts, which greatly contributes to the chances of an accident ending in a fatality.
Common Car Accident Hot Spots
Car accidents can happen everywhere. Some roadways and conditions have a higher susceptibility to crashes, however. When studying car accident data, you can see that motorists are more likely to experience crashes in specific types of traffic patterns in West Texas. These include:
- Intersections: Whether a rural stop sign or a major traffic light, intersections are always dangerous hotspots for car accidents. All it takes is for one person to drive recklessly or take that momentary risk of speeding through and ignoring the warning to stop, and severe injuries and fatalities can occur. No matter how well-policed or how well safety infrastructure is designed, intersections continue to be a source of accidents due to reckless behavior.
- Highly congested rural roads: With long, dark stretches of road and nothing around for miles, drivers experience more accidents in West Texas on rural roads. The combination of visibility issues, fatiguing scenery, high speeds, and narrow lanes can wreak havoc on drivers. At night, oncoming car headlights can also blind drivers and significantly reduce night vision.
- Construction zones: Changing lanes, lower speeds, and other complicated facets of construction zones can distract drivers and create dangerous stretches of roadway. Not only are these areas high risk for drivers in accidents, but severe injury and death often occurs to workers in construction zones.
Fatalities Caused by Seatbelt Skeptics in West Texas
Seatbelts are essential safety devices in all vehicles. They help keep a crash victim in their seat during an accident and prevent them from flying through the windshield or into the dashboard. West Texans, especially in rural areas, have struggled with using their seatbelts, which has caused higher fatalities in vehicle crashes. In Midland County, up to a third of car crash fatalities were not wearing seatbelts at the time of their accident.
According to the Texas Transport Institute, the number of people using seat belts properly has grown since the enforcement of the state’s “Click it or ticket” policy for seatbelt violations. Depending on where you are pulled over in Texas, you could face fines of up to $250 per passenger. Penalties are almost always steeper when a driver is pulled over for a different violation and is also caught not wearing their seatbelts safely. Children younger than eight years old must be restrained in a booster seat or child safety seat unless they are taller than four feet nine inches.
According to TxDOT, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the “Click it or ticket” laws have saved Texas more than $28.5 billion in economic costs related to car accidents, prevented over 129,000 severe injuries, and saved more than 7,400 lives.
Seat belts reduce the risk of fatalities in car accidents by 45% in the front seats of cars and over 60% in the front seats of pickup trucks, which are very common vehicles in Texas car accidents. Be sure to buckle up when you get on any highway in West Texas.
Contact Liggett Law Group if You Were Injured in a Car Accident on a Dangerous Highway in West Texas
At Liggett Law Group, we bring 70 years of combined jury trial experience to your personal injury case. If you or someone you love were injured in a car accident on a dangerous Texas roadway, you need an experienced car accident lawyer by your side to help ensure you recover the compensation you deserve for your damages. Contact our office today for a free, no-obligation case review.