Report Ranks Top Texas Cities for Drunk Driving Fatalities
A new report finds Odessa, Midland, and Dallas have had the state’s highest percentage of drunken-driving fatalities per 100,000 residents over the past five years.
by Staff
April 12, 2018
2 min to read
Photo courtesy of Flickr.
A new report finds Odessa, Midland, and Dallas have had the state’s highest percentage of drunken-driving fatalities per 100,000 residents over the past five years. Odessa took top place with 6.26 annual fatalities, Midland ranked second with 6.19, and Dallas came in third with 5.88.
The report—just released in April, which is Alcohol Awareness Month—was published by law firm Sutliff & Stout. The firm evaluated Texas Department of Transportation city-level crash data for all alcohol-involved crashes over a five-year period, from 2013 to 2017.
Ad Loading...
In Odessa, there are more than 200 drunk driving crashes every year, according to the report. Over 3% of those crashes result in fatalities and 3.4% in incapacitating injuries. With a population of just 130,000, Midland is home to 185 drunk driving collisions annually—resulting in approximately six fatalities and 10 incapacitating injuries every year.
A major city with a population close to 1.3 million, Dallas endures nearly 1,500 drunk driving crashes annually— resulting in over 75 deaths and 145 debilitating injuries.
Additional Texas cities that ranked among the top ten for drunk driving fatalities include: San Marcos (5.21), San Antonio (5.15), Baytown (5.12), Longview (5.09), Waco (4.63), Houston (4.36), and Lubbock (4.10).
Drunk driving kills nearly 30 people a day in the United States. In Texas alone, close to 1,200 people lost their lives in drunk driving crashes in 2017, notes the report.
The report also identifies the top ten Texas cities with the lowest drunk driving fatalities. The top three safest cities for impaired driving fatalities are Flower Mound (0.28) North Richland Hills (0.29) and Frisco (0.51).
Distracted driving remains one of the most persistent risks in fleet operations. New approaches focus on removing mobile device use entirely while adding real-time safety support.
As distraction risks evolve, fleets are turning to smarter, more connected technologies to better understand what’s happening behind the wheel. Part 2 explores how these tools are helping identify risky behaviors and improve visibility across operations.
Distracted driving is often measured by what we can see—phones in hand, eyes off the road. But what about the distractions we can’t? A recent incident raises a bigger question about awareness, attention, and why subtle risks so often go unnoticed.
Fleets have more driver data than ever, so why isn't behavior changing? Training requires more than reports and coaching — it requires real-world practice.
A two-part conversation with Stefan Heck on how AI is transforming the fight against distracted driving. As fleets adopt smarter tools, the focus shifts from reacting to preventing risk. In Part 1, we look at where AI is making an impact for fleets today.
An 11% drop in pedestrian fatalities in early 2025 signals progress in U.S. road safety, but elevated death rates and ongoing risks underscore the need for continued action from fleets and policymakers.
