Many individuals here in the Houston area spend a fair amount of their day out on the roads. So, one would hope these roads would be safe. The reality, unfortunately, may be closer to the opposite. A recent analysis by the Houston Chronicle points to Houston being one of the most dangerous places in the country when it comes to the roads.

The analysis compared the United States 12 largest metro areas, including Houston, when it comes to traffic fatalities. For the purpose of the analysis, the Houston metro area consists of nine counties: Waller, Montgomery, Liberty, Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend, Chambers, Brazoria and Austin.

Using 16 years of federal data on crashes, the study looked at 12 different types of traffic fatalities (using per capita measures), ranking the metro areas in each category. The rankings and performances in these twelve calories were then used to give the metro areas an overall ranking on their deadliness traffic-wise.

Houston was ranked the deadliest metro area overall. In each of the 12 categories, it ranked within the top half for deadliness. It ranked No. 1 in two of the categories: deaths from DUI-related crashes and deaths from drug-related accidents.

What makes Houstons roads so dangerous? Things that the Houston Chronicle article on the analysis postulated were contributing include: lack of attention to safety issues by drivers, long commutes, enforcement issues, political matters, lack of pedestrian/bicyclist infrastructure, speed-focused roads and an ingrained culture of speeding.

What do you think would help make Houstons roads a safer place?

In addition to seeing around 640 traffic fatalities a year, the Houston area also sees around 2,850 people a year get seriously injured in traffic accidents. So, a great many lives are deeply affected by motor vehicle crashes that occur out on area roads. Skilled personal injury lawyers can help individuals whose lives have been forever altered by such accidents fight for the compensation they need and deserve.