Houston crash rates increasing, data shows

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- From sitting in a traffic jam to experiencing a life-altering crash, bad experiences with Houston-area traffic is just about unavoidable.

The Houston-Galveston area council looking into what a "regional safety report" showed was going on the city's roads.

The report examined the most recent data fully available from the year 2011 to 2015.

Data showed an uptick in the number of regional crashes by 62 percent of a five-year period. The number of wrecks jumped from 89,000 in 2011, to an annual increase of more than 144,000 in 2015.

The report also examined the crash rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. The data showed there was almost a 39 percent increase of accidents in that same period.

The recent report also looked into the cause of these crashes, specifically for 2015.

The leading cause with a 15 percent increase was distracted driving, causing deadly and serious injury crashes.

Following with a seven percent increase is drunken driving.

The Houston-Galveston council hopes to use the findings in the study to improve transportation solutions over the next few years.

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