Most Dangerous Highways for Truckers

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 4,764 people were killed in large truck accidents in 2022. While most of these tragic losses represented pedestrians and passenger car occupants, about 810 of these deaths were occupants of the large trucks involved. This was an 83% increase in trucker deaths compared to 2009.

Whether it was bad weather, poor-condition brakes, another driver’s negligence, or some other factor that led to the truck crash, these accidents represent an occupational hazard of one of the nation’s most vital jobs—that of truck drivers. While this is a hazard a trucker can face at any point on the job, the most dangerous routes run through Texas.

Texas highways have the notorious distinction of having the highest truck accident rates in the nation, and this high truck accident rate has been true for years. In 2022, Texas recorded the most truck accidents of any state in the U.S., with more than 6,000 truck accidents recorded. In 2023, the news did not get better, and nearly a third of its truck accidents resulted in fatalities.

This has unfortunately been a long-standing pattern, and one that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon, unless drastic changes are made. Each year, truckers transport 1.5 billion tons of freight throughout Texas. In carrying out this essential work, truckers travel 8.1 billion miles on Texas highways. Between in-house truck transportation, general freight, specialized freight, and self-employed truckers, the industry represents 4.4 million jobs in Texas, raking in billions of dollars in worker income and Texas tax revenues.

The high accident rate isn’t just an ever-present hazard on Texas highways; it is also a risk that often translates to tragedy. When it comes to commercial motor vehicle accidents, Texas is consistently at the top of the list when it comes to fatal truck accidents in the U.S. as well.

Texas Highways with the Most Truck Accidents

In Texas, there are approximately 683,530 miles of road, and some stretches of these highways are some of the deadliest in the nation when it comes to trucking accidents. This list of the most dangerous highways for each type of roadway was determined by looking at the numbers for 96 highways in Texas where accidents involved commercial vehicles between 2014 and 2024.

To specify, this roadway data excludes information on accidents that occurred on access roads, onramps, and accidents that occurred outside of the Texas borders, even if the accidents involved a highway that intersects Texas at some point.

For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing on truck accidents that took place on:

• Interstate highways
• U.S. highways within Texas
• Texas State Highways & loop systems

We’ll take a look at the grim numbers for each roadway, as well as some reasons why these roads are so dangerous for truckers.

Texas Interstate Highway with the Most Truck Accidents

Among these highways, Interstate 10 recorded the most truck accidents overall and more than one thousand fatalities. Specifically, from 2014 to 2024, Interstate Highway 10 saw 82,426 truck accidents, resulting in 1,382 deaths.

Within that decade, there were 6,000 or more crashes every single year. This makes I-10 far and away the worst highway on our list. This staggering number of accidents has several contributing factors behind it, including sharp curves, high traffic volume, and weather-related issues. The traffic patterns and designs for I-10 exacerbate the risk of accidents.

Interstate 10 runs from Santa Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida, but with the numbers noted above, we limited ourselves to just the accidents that happen within Texas’ borders. In fact, if we looked at I-10 as a whole, the most dangerous stretch of that road starts at Anthony, Texas, which nearly borders New Mexico, and lasts until Texas’ border with Louisiana. This is in no small part because I-10 runs through El Paso, San Antonio, and Houston.

However, the most dangerous section of I-10 that’s within Texas runs between Exit 855A and Exit 849 in Beaumont. Between just 2018 and 2020, seventeen fatal accidents occurred on this small stretch of the interstate. That’s not the only higher-risk area though. El Paso’s stretch of I-10, from Exit 16 to Exit 21, also recorded eleven fatal accidents in those two years, also making it on a top 10 list of deadliest Texas roads.

U.S. Highway with the Most Truck Accidents in Texas

U.S. Highways were built earlier than the Interstate Highway system and thus aren’t up to the same standards that would be created later. The most dangerous of these highways to pass through Texas is U.S. Highway 59. This route recorded 18,513 truck accidents from 2014 to 2024, these crashes accounting for 515 deaths.

U.S. Highway 59 has been identified as one of the most dangerous highways in the nation particularly for the stretch of this highway that passes through the Houston area.

What makes U.S. Highway 59 dangerous? The heavy traffic, high speeds, and inadequate road infrastructure all are contributing factors. The Houston area in particular adds the risk factors of congested traffic that come with urban areas, and that alone is a significant contributor to the frequency of truck accidents in that area.

There have been various improvement projects aimed at enhancing safety and capacity. For instance, segments of U.S. 59 in Houston have been expanded and upgraded to address congestion and improve overall road safety, but this highway still ranks as one of the deadliest in the state.

Texas State Highway & Loop with the Most Accidents

Moving onto highways that run completely within Texas’ borders, the most dangerous routes are State Highway 6 and State Loop 12.

Truck Accidents on State Highway 6

In the timespan we’re examining, between 2014 and 2024, there were 6,354 truck accidents on State Highway 6, crashes that resulted in 119 deaths. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has discussed proposing ways to improve Highway 6, with suggestions for various upgrades to enhance safety and efficiency along Highway 6 that include road expansions, better traffic management systems, and other infrastructure enhancements.

Truck Accidents on State Loop 12

This roadway reported 5,090 truck accidents in this ten-year timespan, accounting for 39 fatalities. The situation has grown urgent, such that TxDOT has been seeking input from local residents and stakeholders, trying to ensure that any proposed changes address community needs and concerns effectively. In trying to improve safety as well as efficiency for commuters, town hall meetings have sought to bring together local residents, officials, and road planners to address safety and congestion issues.

State Loop 12 also suffers from high traffic volumes, frequent accidents, and the need for better road infrastructure. Proposed changes have included road expansions, better traffic management systems, and infrastructure enhancements, all trying to find workable solutions for traffic bottlenecks.

Factors That Contribute to Texas’ High Rate of Truck Accidents

According to insurance data, on accidents that occurred in 2018 to 2020 in Texas, some of the most common causes of accidents on Texas roadways included:

• Speeding (more than 30% of vehicle accidents)
• Drunk driving (24.3% of accidents)
• Distracted driving (Nearly 20% of accidents)

While these specific numbers include passenger cars as well, they do reveal a lot about dangerous driver behavior, which does factor into truck accidents. For instance, commercial trucks require up to 40% more stopping distance compared to passenger cars, so any speeding by truckers can be catastrophic. Speeding is known to be a top cause for large truck accidents.

Taking general principles from this overall crash data, it was also found that October, November, and December had higher accident rates, which helps to confirm that bad weather contributes to accident risks in Texas, including truck accident risks.

One of the risks specific to the trucking industry, however, which wasn’t listed above, is that driver fatigue is known to be a leading cause of truck accidents in Texas. Some estimate that up to 13% percent of the trucking accidents in Texas are due to a trucker driving while fatigued. That might be undercutting the seriousness of the issue.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has estimated that truck driver fatigue is one of the factors in nearly half of all trucking accidents. With often 70+ hour workweeks and trucking industry violations, companies often push their drivers past what is safe for them and others on the road.

But even when trucking corporations are abiding by the rule book, truck drivers are legally allowed to drive for 11 hours straight—that can be taxing even on a good day. When even law-abiding trucking companies are going to have fatigued drivers behind the wheel, perhaps the regulations themselves need to be changed.

What Can Be Done to Reduce Trucking Accidents in Texas?

TxDOT has launched some initiatives such as the Drive Safe Campaign, which emphasizes the importance of safe driving practices among truck drivers. A lot of these are simply reminders to drivers to be sensible, and changes to road infrastructure are still in the stage of being merely proposed. This includes installing better lighting, providing clearer signage, and creating designated truck lanes to enhance safety.

Employers also need to provide comprehensive training programs for their drivers, which ideally would include simulated driving conditions and real-time driving experience.

Does Road Expansion Help Reduce Traffic & Truck Accidents?

One of the go-to projects for improving traffic-congested roadways is to add more lanes. This is true for major cities around the country, including Houston. In the metro area’s Katy Freeway, nearly $3 billion was spent to build additional lanes for this stretch of I-10. The highway was expanded to 26 lanes at certain points, 12 in each direction for main lanes, with six managed lanes for mass transit and multiple-occupancy vehicles, as well as eight feeder lanes.

The immediate result back in 2008 was some reduction in traffic, but the relief was short-lived. It only took three years after the new lanes were built for traffic to grow worse than it had been before. While the lanes expanded, more people started taking that road, and the lane expansion didn’t outpace population growth and the increased drivers on that road. This happens immediately with drivers choosing to go further than usual because of the opened-up routes, or to travel more often on that highway. The longer effects can take place if people and businesses spread out in response as well.

Similar disheartening results have been noted with other roadway expansions, from Los Angeles to Atlanta. While road expansion can still be considered worth it in the short-term, long-term solutions will have to be produced elsewhere.

Other roadways, however, from San Francisco to New York, found that closing certain roads alleviated traffic on the road, making shorter trips by foot safer and more feasible. Of course, without footpath access or public transit options as alternate means of transportation, then road closures wouldn’t be a one-size-fits all solution either.

Highway traffic problems and accident rates can’t all be solved in the same way. This is a multi-faceted issue that requires action on many different fronts. When it comes to trucking accidents, it’s the corporations involved who have immediate and direct options that they can and should take to improve road safety for everyone.

When It Comes to Preventing Truck Accidents, Employers Already Should Be Doing More

Unfortunately, employers are known to coerce their drivers to violate crucial safety measures, such as hours of service (HOS) limits. In these and other ways, these trucking corporations help to create the single greatest risk factor on Texas roads for truckers, that of fatigued driving. If you’re a trucker whose employer or another party coerced them into violating safety regulations, then you have rights that protect you from retaliation if you turn whistleblower and report them.

Trucking companies are not alone in this, however. Other companies, such as transportation intermediaries, shippers, receivers, and so forth can create pressure on truckers, who may fear losing their jobs if they don’t drive for a dangerously long time in order to meet unrealistic expectations, or they make agree to take another trip, even though this would mean exceeding HOS limits. This illegal behavior might unfortunately increase if the long-standing issue of trucker shortages is going to continue as expected.

Holding Negligent Parties Accountable for Trucker Accidents

Whether it’s due to companies breaking the law or driver negligence, many trucker accidents are tragically preventable. When another motorist, other truck driver, or dishonest company causes such an accident, then the truckers harmed in these crashes, or the surviving family members of a trucker killed in such a crash, shouldn’t have to pay more than they already have for someone else’s recklessness or negligence. Truckers and their loved ones can take legal action to demand justice for the accident, and by doing so, they may even force trucking companies to make changes, so that that type of preventable truck accident doesn’t happen to someone else.