The History of Motor Vehicle Devastation in Texas

Welcome to the first in a series of blogs with a technical and data flavor, written by a self-professed nerd who loves to look at technology trends and data-driven analyses impacting the legal landscape of automotive and other accidents in Texas. These blogs are intended to bring the story of historical and current trends to life, with specific emphasis on what these trends mean for you and, most importantly, the kind of customized help Tate Accident Law and Tate Law Offices provide when you or a loved one is involved in an automotive accident. 

Technology and Data Are Changing Accident Law

Increasingly, technology and data are an integral part of accident law. Video data, sophisticated accident reconstruction approaches, virtual reality and 3D modeling, use of drones for evidence-gathering, use of smartphone data like GPS, and other technology and data sources make the legal landscape increasingly complicated and require attorneys who remain up-to-date on technology innovations and data analytics. The legal and financial implications of each situation are unique, and your best chances for navigating complex rules and maximizing your financial reward is relying on experts with deep expertise and experience to match your specific case. Tate Accident Law and Tate Law Offices, with offices in Sherman, McKinney, Dallas, Fort Worth, Denison and Midland-Odessa serve a broad geography in Texas, with specific areas listed at the bottom of this blog entry.  

Since this is a data-driven blog and we want to bring data to life, consider these not-so-fun facts: Only 32% of Americans have never been in a car accident. If you put two random people into a room, the odds that neither has experienced an auto accident come out to 10%. Put 5 random people in a room, and the odds that none has experienced an auto accident drop to 0.3% – 3 in one thousand. Put 10 random people in a room, and the odds drop to 0.001% – 1 in one hundred thousand! Or, said differently, there is a 99.999% chance that one or more people in the room of 10 has experienced one or more accidents! It’s nearly impossible to gather a very small group who has not been involved in an auto accident. 

Motor vehicle traffic deaths represent a leading cause of death nationwide. In 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) reported over 6 million police-reported vehicle traffic crashes and estimated 39,345 people died as a result (a decrease of about 3.8% compared to the 40,901 fatalities reported in 2023). In Texas alone, 4,283 fatal traffic crashes represented over 10% of the nation’s total crash-related deaths in 2023. 

How Has Safety Improved Over Time?

Though the number of traffic fatalities is staggering, by one key measure the relative number of deaths has improved. The measure of interest is deaths per vehicle miles traveled. Before we look at real statistics, let’s first understand what the deaths per vehicle miles traveled means, and how we interpret the measure. Think about deaths per vehicle miles traveled as a way of adjusting the death count to account for how frequently deaths occur. As a simple example, suppose in a given year that drivers totaled 1 million miles of driving and 100 deaths occurred. Suppose then in the next year that drivers also totaled 2 million miles of driving and 100 deaths occurred, the same number as the last year. Though the total number of deaths didn’t change, the number of deaths per mile driven reduced from 0.01% to 0.005%. By this measure of deaths per vehicle mile traveled, driving is relatively safer in the second year. 

Now for real statistics: the below data from the Texas Department of Transportation shows that the number of deaths in 2023 (4,283) increased from 2003 (3,822), by a total percentage of 12%. However, the deaths per 100 million miles traveled metric shows a decrease from 2003 (1.75) to 2023 (1.45), a percentage decrease of 17%. By this relative measure of deaths per miles driven, driving in Texas has become relatively safer in the past two decades, at least from a death toll perspective.

The Financial Toll of Motor Vehicle Accidents

Driving has become relatively safer in the past 20 years, due largely to advancements in automotive technology, but also thanks to infrastructural improvements and stricter traffic laws with increased enforcement. Now the story gets more interesting. No analysis of automotive trends is complete without a look at the dollars, and the story of dollars here is eye-opening. The below chart is identical to the above chart, but with an added column showing the financial toll of automotive accidents in Texas over the years. The story is as follows: In 2003, the estimated economic loss of all motor vehicle crashes was $20.7 billion. In 2023, the estimated loss was $56.2 billion, a 271% change in 20 years! And remember, driving has become 17% safer in this same time period, as described earlier. 

Money = Safety?

As a final look at interesting statistics, let’s consider the relationship between money and safety. We know that driving has become relatively safer as measured by deaths per mile driven. We also know that the total cost of accidents has skyrocketed. If we combine these two concepts into a new metric, we can see an unexpected trend: costs have risen while safety has improved, which is a double-whammy leading to an extreme rise in cost per death when normalized for vehicle miles traveled. I know this one’s a little bit tricky, so I’ll just give you the numbers, and the interested reader can choose to get a deeper explanation below. The numbers: the math works out such that we paid $11.8 billion per death per 100 million miles driven in 2003, compared against $38.8 billion per death per 100 million miles driven, an increase of 328%! Recall from above that in the same time period, driving became 17% safer and total costs increased by 271%. The 328% increase means we’re not just paying a lot more per crash now, we’re paying costs that are particularly disproportionate in light of safety improvements. 

If you want to understand more about the above normalized metric for relating safety to money, read on. If you don’t want details, move on to the next paragraph. If you’re still here – think of it this way. Suppose we had a total of $1 million spent in a year with 10 deaths per million miles driven. Suppose the next year we also had a total of $1 million spent but 5 deaths per million miles driven. This idea of normalizing for vehicle miles driven means that we’re paying twice as much per accident in year 2 ($1 million ➗10 = $100,000 per accident per mile driven for year 1, $1 million ➗5 = $200,000 per accident per mile driven for year 2). Costs stayed the same, safety improved, and we paid more per accident! Now here’s the double whammy: costs didn’t stay the same in reality: they increased at the same time safety improved. Specifically total expenses of $20.7 billion dollars in 2003 increased to $56.2 billion in 2023. So the math works out such that we paid $11.8 billion per death per 100 million miles driven in 2003, $38.8 billion per death per 100 million miles driven. Summarizing the numbers above once more, we paid $11.8 billion per death per 100 million miles driven in 2003, compared against $38.8 billion per death per 100 million miles driven, an increase of 328%! Recall from above that in the same time period, driving became 17% safer and total costs increased by 271%. The 328% increase means we’re not just paying a lot more per crash now, we’re paying costs that are particularly disproportionate in light of safety improvements. 

What This Means for You

We’ve covered a lot of numbers, but what do they mean for you? The numbers tell a story of the near inevitability that you or a loved one will be involved in an automotive accident. If 10 people are in a room, there is a 99.999% chance that one or more of them has experienced one or more accidents. The numbers also tell a story of drastically increased costs associated with car wrecks over the years, even as we’ve seen safety improvements. A lot of money is at stake, and pursuing compensation requires attorneys with deep experience and an understanding of evolving trends and the quickly-evolving legal landscape. The wrong moves, without proper legal representation, severely jeopardize your chances of collecting money. With the right legal representation, you not only improve your chances of collecting money, but you also improve the amount you can collect. Contact Tate Accident Law or Tate Law Offices now for a free consultation. Read other blogs [link here] to learn what to do – and what not to do – when you are in a car accident. Educating yourself on what to do if you are in an accident, or know of someone who has been in an accident, and contacting your Tate lawyer immediately, are critical steps in maximizing your reward. 

About the author: The author works exclusively with Tate Accident Law and Tate Law Offices to explore technology and data trends in the context of accident law. Trained as an engineer, he holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Bioelectrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Southern Methodist University with summa cum laude honors. He followed his undergraduate studies with Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was named a Presidential Fellow. Upon completing his graduate work in the field of real-time data analysis systems and Artificial Intelligence at MIT, he has spent the past 25 years designing data analytics platforms and teaching technology and data subjects to beginners and experts alike.  

Geographies served by Tate Accident Law and Tate Law Offices: Grayson County, Denton, Whitesboro, Sherman, Plano, Mesquite, Anna, McKinney, Gainesville, Dallas, Durant, Bonham, Denison, Garland, Richardson, Allen, Celina, Prosper, Irving, Fort Worth, Ardmore, The Colony, Garland, Richardson, Lewisville, Little Elm, Anna, Melissa, Parker, Addison, Frisco, Plano, Wylie, Mesquite, Allen, McKinney, Murphy, Prosper, Irving, Rockwall, Grapevine, Arlington, Carrollton, Grand Prairie, Melissa, Addison, Cleburne, Bedford, Hurst, North Richland Hills, Watuga, Burleson, Haslet, Mansfield, Benbrook, Haltom City, Kennedale, Saginaw, White Settlement, Crowley, Westlake, Azle