According to a report released by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, more severe and fatal vehicle crashes occur in the Permian Basin than in the rest of Texas.
Commissioned by the Permian Road Safety Coalition, the report analyzed data from 2018 through 2022 and focuses on the 20 counties in West Texas and two in New Mexico that constitute the Permian Basin.
The report indicated that the rate of severe and fatal crashes in West Texas compared to the rest of the state is striking, with almost 15 crashes per 1,000 resulting in at least one death in the Permian Basin as compared to seven per 1,000 in other parts of the state. More than half of the incidents involved multiple vehicles, with the rate of fatalities of multi-vehicle collisions being three times higher.
The report tracked 962 crashes in the Permian that resulted in at least one death during the five-year period – or about one fatal crash every other day, with almost have within Midland and Ector counties.
Robert Wunderlich, the report’s lead author and director of the institute, said the traffic density measured by the number of vehicles and speed limits are similar to other urban areas in the state. However, the Permian- road designis rural with many single lanes.
Commercial motor vehicles used to transport property or a delivery accounted for almost half of the fatal rural crashes in the Permian Basin – twice the statewide rate.