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Texas Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Facts Calendar Year 2017

  • The Fatality Rate on Texas roadways for 2017 was 1.37 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles traveled. This is a 2.14% decrease from 2016.

  • Texas experienced a decrease in the number of motor vehicle traffic fatalities. The 2017 death toll of 3,727 was a decrease of 1.77% from the 3,794 deaths recorded in 2016.

  • There were 14,282 serious injury crashes in Texas in 2017 with 17,535 people sustaining a serious injury*.

  • The annual vehicle miles traveled in Texas during 2017 reached 272.989 billion, an increase of 0.64% over the 271.263 billion traveled in 2016.

  • Fatalities in traffic crashes in rural areas of the state accounted for 52.37% of the state’s traffic fatalities. There were 1,952 deaths in rural traffic crashes.

  • Single vehicle, run-off the road crashes resulted in 1,311 deaths in 2017. This was 35.18% of all motor vehicle traffic deaths in 2017.

  • In 2017 there were 763 people killed in crashes occurring in intersections or related to an intersection.

  • There were 553 people killed in head-on crashes in 2017.

  • There were no deathless days on Texas roadways in 2017.

  • There was one crash that resulted in 6 or more fatalities in 2017.

  • Friday, November 17th was the deadliest day in 2017 with twenty-six (26) persons killed in traffic crashes. July was the deadliest month with 352 persons killed.

• Based on reportable crashes in 2017:

 1 person was killed every 2 hours 21 minutes

 1 person was injured every 2 minutes 4 seconds

 1 reportable crash occurred every 59 seconds

• Of all persons killed in vehicles where restraint usage was applicable and usage was known in 2017, 39.98% were reported as not restrained when the fatal crash occurred.

• 254,415 persons were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2017.

• There were 499 motorcyclists (operators and passengers) killed in 2017. Fifty one percent (51%) of motorcyclists killed were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash.

• Pedestrian fatalities totaled 615 in 2017. This is a 9.56% decrease from 2016.

• Pedalcyclist fatalities totaled 57 in 2017. This is a 13.64% decrease from 2016.

• In 2017, there were 1,046 people killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes where a driver was under the influence of alcohol. This is 28% of the total number of people killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes.

• During 2017, more DUI - Alcohol crashes were reported in the hour between 2:00 am and 2:59 am than any other hour of the day. Also, more of these crashes occurred on Sunday than any other day of the week.

• In 2017, there were 451 people killed in crashes involving distracted driving. This is a 2% decrease from 2016.

• There were no fatalities caused by a bridge collapse in 2017.

*Effective with the 2010 Annual Summary reports, the definition of “Serious Injury” was changed to only include “Incapacitating Injury”. Therefore, Serious Injury data cannot be compared to prior years.

Information contained in this report represents reportable data collected from Texas Peace Officer's Crash Reports (CR-3) received and processed by the Department as of May 06, 2019.

2019 Legislative Updates

OCTOBER 25, 2019

House Bill 2847 Changes

When did the changes for instructor licenses go into effect?

Per legislation (HB 2847), the changes in driver education instructor licensing went into effect September 01, 2019.

Am I required to hold a teaching certificate to become a driver education instructor?

No, you are not required to obtain a teaching certificate. The new requirements to become a driver education instructor can be found under HB 2847, Article 2, Section 1001.2531.

What exam am I required to pass to become a driver education instructor? 

If you attend an Instructor Development Course (IDC) or are enrolled in driver training at a college or university, you will need to take and pass the exam given to you at the end of the course. You will need to pass the exam with a minimum score of 70% to meet the requirements on becoming a driver education instructor.

I currently hold a TA-Full or Supervising TA-Full license, what will happen?

If you hold one of those two licenses, they will be upgraded upon your next renewal.

  • TA-Full license will become a Driver Education Teacher (DET)

  • Supervising TA-Full license will become a Supervising Teacher (ST)

What are the levels of driver education instructor licenses?

The available instructor licenses are now: Teacher Assistant (TA), Driver Education Teacher (DET) and Supervising Teacher (ST).

When did the changes for brick-and-mortar schools go into effect?

Per legislation (HB 2847; effective 9-1-2019), the requirement for schools offering an online course only, to have a brick and mortar school has been removed.

I applied for an initial driver education school before the effective date, can I waive the requirement to have a physical site?

If your application is postmarked on or before August 31, 2019, the physical site requirements will still apply to you. If your application is postmarked on or after September 01, 2019, then you are not required to have a physical site for your initial driver education school if you are offering an online course.

House Bill 105 Changes

What changes to my curriculum do I need to make because of HB 105?

HB 105 requires that all driver education courses and driving safety courses include information relating to oversize and overweight vehicles by September 01, 2020

What is the department requiring me to submit to show that I’ve updated my course regarding oversize and overweight vehicle loads? 

You will need to have your curriculum updated and submit a Statement of Assurance to our department no later than September 01, 2020. 

The steps will include the following:

  1. Update your curriculum

  2. Include a curriculum outline to TDLR that shows where HB 105 will be incorporated into the curriculum

  3. Complete and submit the Statement of Assurance

House Bill 2048 Changes

Have the Parent Taught Instructor qualifications changed? 

Yes, per HB 2048, the qualifications will be updated to reflect moving violations in the last 3 years instead of points. The update includes:

  • Three or more tickets (moving violations according to Transportation Code 521.304)

  • Two tickets without accidents and one ticket with an accident; or

  • Two or more tickets that include accidents.

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