Commercial Traffic Accidents Increase by 34.5% in Rockwall County, 20% in Kaufman County in Just One Year

According to recently released crash data from TXDot, both Rockwall and Kaufman counties are experiencing significant increases in commercial traffic accidents. The data just released is from 2015, so 2016 statistics are not known. However, the number of commercial vehicle accidents increased by 34.5% year-over-year from 2014 to 2015 for Rockwall and Kaufman county increased by 20.3% over the same time period.

We know that Rockwall and Kaufman counties are experiencing extreme growth, with cities like Rockwall, Royse City, McClendon-Chisholm, and Heath as well as parts of Dallas, Garland, and Rowlett located in Rockwall county, it is no wonder that Rockwall county has experienced large year-over-year growth in commercial vehicle accidents. But over 34%? That is a crazy statistic.

In Kaufman county, what is really the most surprising is that it had more commercial vehicle accidents that Rockwall county in 2014 (113 in Kaufman county and 107 in Rockwall county). What may be surprising to hear is that Kaufman county has a larger population that Rockwall county, thanks to large growth in cities like Forney, Terrell, and Kaufman. That may partly explain the higher number of accidents, but Rockwall county is smaller in geographic size and is more densely populated, so the statistic is still a little surprising. Forney’s population alone grew by over 25% from the 2010 census to the last released data in July 2015, and Kaufman county’s growth over that same period is at exactly 11.0%.

Kaufman county also had more fatality commercial vehicle accidents and more catastrophic injury accidents than Rockwall county in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, Kaufman county had 1 fatality accident involving a commercial vehicle with 4 incapacitating injury accidents resulting in 4 catastrophically injured persons. In that same year, Rockwall county had no commercial vehicle related deaths and 4 incapacitating accidents resulting in 6 catastrophically injured persons.

This seems like a good number (in comparison to places like Dallas where there were over 3,100 commercial vehicle crashes resulting in 26 deaths in 2015). However, the numbers are only getting worse and signal that commercial traffic is increasing in Rockwall and Kaufman counties at alarming rates. Kaufman county went from 1 fatality accident in 2014 to 5 in 2015, with 5 deaths resulting. There were also 6 incapacitating injury accidents resulting in 8 catastrophic injuries. Overall, there were 136 commercial vehicle accidents in Kaufman county in 2015 as opposed to 113 in 2014. In Rockwall county, there were 2 fatality accidents with 2 resulting deaths and 4 incapacitating accidents with 7 catastrophic injuries resulting. Overall, Rockwall county commercial vehicle accidents increase from 107 in 2014 to 144, surpassing Kaufman county in sheer number commercial vehicle accidents, but not in severity of injuries and deaths. One reason for this is that much of Kaufman county is serviced by two lane highways like highway 80 and I-20, and FM roads that are one lane. the roads are dangerous and are becoming more and more congested as people from Dallas and Mesquite, and a lot of Californians, move into Kaufman county.

Rockwall is experiencing the same issues, only on a more congested scale. After the 2010 census came out, they were listed as one of the fastest growing counties in the country. They also have to deal with I-30 if they wish to travel back into Dallas (or if the residents of Rockwall county want to get home). Many residents have taken to traveling the back roads from Forney to get home as opposed to traveling on I-30. This only further increases traffic on 741 and 205 going through the Heath area where there is almost always some road construction happening.

Conclusion

We live in Rockwall and Kaufman county because we love Rockwall and Kaufman counties. It is why we moved here, or our parents moved here. But they’re growing. Growth is good because it creates new businesses. We all love our local restaurants, and shopping. But the ugly underbelly of this is our roads are becoming more dangerous as commercial traffic picks up to keep supplying our local tex-mex places filled with chips and our local stores with the wares they need. As our populations grow, so will the number of commercial vehicle accidents. If you have been injured in a commercial vehicle accident, it is our advice that you speak with a licensed personal injury attorney regarding your case. Insurance companies, especially commercial vehicle insurance companies are not your friend and they do not have your best interest at heart. So, please, for your sake and your families sake, speak to someone about your case.

Source:

2014 and 2015 Crash Data Statistics TXDot

2014: http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/trf/crash_statistics/2014/29.pdf

2015: http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/trf/crash_statistics/2015/29.pdf