Best Car Insurance In Houston, TX

Driving in Houston

Traffic in Houston: The city and nearby areas came in fourth for the worst traffic in the country in a recent report by USA Today, which noted that drivers spend about 58 hours a year stuck in traffic.

Car crashes: Major accidents have resulted in an average of 180 deaths a year in recent year (2012-2014).

Commuting: The average commute in Houston lasts 27 minutes.

Public transportation: The U.S. Census Bureau says that the majority of riders in Houston who commute to work by public transportation are white (about 16 percent), Hispanic (about 41 percent) and black (about 37 percent). The bureau notes that commuting is the main reason people turn to mass transit.

High Occupancy Vehicle rules: The HOV lane, also known as the carpool or diamond lane, is designed to reduce traffic congestion and promote ride-sharing on freeways. In Texas, only vehicles with at least two people, mass transit vehicles like buses, and motorcycles are allowed to use the lanes. Use may be restricted during specified hours.

Smog rules: Texas requires Houston residents with vehicles two to 24 years old to have emissions testing every year as part of the registration process. New Houston residents must have the vehicle tested within 30 days of moving to the city to register it.

Bad intersection: The meeting of Genoa Red Bluff Road and Beltway 8 has consistently been called one of the worst intersections in the Houston area.

The information was gathered from various sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, state transportation departments and city police departments.

Pedestrians/cyclists killed or seriously injured in Houston crashes

There were 3,984 crashes that involved a pedestrian or cyclist in Houston between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2017. There were 641 seriously injured or killed during the time, according to a study conducted by LinkHouston.

LinkHouston’s study showed that in crashes during 2016 and 2017:

• 382 pedestrians were incapacitated
• 160 pedestrians were killed
• 85 cyclists were incapacitated
• 14 cyclists were killed

As part of what is called the “Safer Streets Initiative,” the city of Houston works in tandem with the Federal Highway Administration, BikeHouston and LINKHouston, which has studied traffic patterns and risks in Houston since 2013.

LINKHouston said that between 2013 and 2017, more than 12,000 people were injured or killed in auto-pedestrian crashes. Here are the Top 10 Houston intersections the project named as the most dangerous for pedestrians:

1. Fannin and Pierce
2. Ranchester and Bellaire
3. Westheimer and South Dairy Ashford
4. Long Point and Gessner
5. Westpark Drive and US 59 South
6. Old Spanish Trail and 288 South
7. Fondren and West Bellfort
8. Bissonnet and Wilcrest
9. West and Airline
10. Bellaire and South Gessner

Houston congestion

It’s no Los Angeles or Boston, but Houston holds its own in terms of congestion on its roads.

In an annual report conducted by INRIX, Houston, ranked  number 13 in 2018 on the “most congested urban areas in the U.S.” list. Houston lagged behind list-toppers Boston, Washington, DC., Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles. Houston ranked at number 77 globally, up from slot 82 in 2017. According to the study, Houston drivers spent an average of 98 minutes of time in congestion in 2018. They crawl at about 15 mph during the last minute of inner city driving time.

Houston drivers lost up to $1,365 per year due to congestion. That's much better than Boston, whose drivers lost up to $2,291.

Houston’s most dangerous intersections

As with any city, there are certain streets, roads and highways that pose more of a risk than others to drivers, either because of the amount of congestion or their design, or both. Video telematics company Lytx in 2019 put together its five most dangerous roads to drive in the Houston area.

Ranking in order of riskiest road:

1. Intersection of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Aldine Bender Road
2. I-45 between Chartres Street and Frontage Road
3. TX 225 between Shaver and Scarborough Lane
4. East Freeway Frontage Road at the intersection of Gellhorn Drive
5. Intersection of 1-610 and North McCarty Drive

Also from the Lytx report on Houston’s risky roads:

• Number of risky driving events observed: 654,000
• Tuesday morning is when most collisions and near collisions occur
• Sunday evening is when the fewest collisions occur

Houston commuters

According to the U.S. Census, the average drive time for Houston workers 16 and older to their job is 27.4 minutes. The result is just about the national average of roughly 27.1 minutes.

The mean time calculated by the Census (based on figures from 2014-2018) includes time spent waiting for public transportation, picking up passengers in carpools and time spent on other activities related to getting to work.

Data compiled by Data USA showed that 1.96% of the workforce in Houston are "super commuters," meaning they drive an excess of 90 minutes to their job.

Of the Houston commuters (top three, as measured in 2017):

• Drive alone: 77%
• Carpooled: 10.4%
• Worked at home: 4.3%

Houston crashes

There were 64,126 crashes on Houston’s streets and roads in 2018, a decrease from 2017, which saw 64,720 wrecks in the city, as shown by Texas Department of Transportation data. While there were fewer crashes overall in Houston between 2017 and 2018, there was a significant increase in fatalities between the two years. In those years, 197 people were killed in 2018, while 245 lost their lives in 2017 crashes.

2018 traffic crashes in Houston:

• Fatal crashes: 189
• Number of fatalities: 197
• Suspected serious crashes: 1,030
• Suspected serious injuries: 1,175
• Non-incapacitating crashes: 5,038
• Non-incapacitating injuries: 6,703
• Possible injury crashes: 14,123
• Possibly injured in crashes: 21,878
• Non-injury crashes: 40,657
• Total in crashes not injured: 128,370
• Unknown severity crashes: 3,089
• Unknown injuries: 18,399
• Total crashes: 64,126

2017 traffic crashes in Houston:

• Fatal crashes: 228
• Number of fatalities: 245
• Suspected serious crashes: 1,062
• Suspected serious injuries: 1,277
• Non-incapacitating crashes: 5,468
• Non-incapacitating injuries: 7,377
• Possible injury crashes: 13,518
• Possible injuries: 21,158
• Non-injury crashes: 41,682
• Total in crashes not injured: 133,122
• Unknown severity crashes: 2,762
• Unknown injuries: 17,358
• Total crashes: 64,720

Leading the nation: DUIs in Houston

The Houston Chronicle dug deep into data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from 2001 to 2016, reviewing the number of fatal drunk driving accidents in 12 metropolitan areas in the county. Texas leads the country with the most drunk-driving accidents, according to the findings. Houston is the worst city for drunk driving.

“Houston is the deadliest place in America for impaired driving,” writes Brian White, attorney. ”Every year, an average of over 300 people in the Houston area die in DWI collisions.”

According to this report:

• More than 3,000 fatal DWI accidents occurred in Houston over the 16-year period – three times more than Los Angeles, which has about twice the population of Houston.
• Since 2010, the Houston region has recorded more than 5,000 impaired driving accidents annually. This equates to around 14 DWI crashes per day.
• The Dallas/Fort Worth area came in second place for drunk driving accidents, with 2,425 DWI collisions from 2001 to 2016.
• The majority of DWI fatalities in Houston (2,325) during the time period studied came from alcohol-related accidents, while 708 deaths involved drugged drivers.

There were 3,303 fatal crashes in the state of Texas in 2018, with 850 of those fatal crashes involving driving under the influence. In those DUI fatal crashes, 940 were killed in 2018. Texas saw 405 fatal DUI crashes in 2018, and 49 of those occurred in Houston, according to Texas DOT.

2018 Houston DUIs:

• Fatal crashes: 49
• Number of fatalities: 53
• Suspected serious crashes: 87
• Suspected serious injuries: 121
• Non-incapacitating crashes: 207
• Non-incapacitating injuries: 303
• Possible injury crashes: 336
• Possible injuries: 561
• Non-injury crashes: 1,116
• Total in crashes not injured: 3,084
• Unknown severity crashes: 113
• Unknown injuries: 445
• Total crashes: 1,908

2017 Houston DUIs:

• Fatal crashes: 71
• Number of fatalities: 77
• Suspected serious crashes: 42
• Suspected serious injuries: 74
• Non-incapacitating crashes: 179
• Non-incapacitating injuries: 263
• Possible injury crashes: 220
• Possible injuries: 362
• Non-injury crashes: 934
• Total in crashes not injured: 2,583
• Unknown severity crashes: 105
• Unknown injuries: 393
• Total crashes: 1,551

The Houston County Sheriff’s Office reported that it had made 24 arrests for driving under the influence in 2017-2018.

Houston, we have a tech problem: distracted driving

Statistics show that distracted driving traffic deaths continue to shoot off the charts in the United States, despite growing efforts to strengthen the laws banning or curbing hand-held device behavior when behind the wheel.

In 2017, Zendrive conducted a three-month analysis of 5.6 billion miles, 570 million trips and three million drivers and sifted through the behavior related to distracted driving. Looking at January and February 2017 trip data from a sample of cities in the best and the worst states, Houston was the sixth most-distracted city. Houston was surpassed only by Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Austin and Los Angeles (no. 1 on the list) as having the most distracted drivers.

Nationwide, Zendrive found more driver phone use in its 2018 study than in its 2017 study. All but one state “got worse” in Zendrive’s distracted driver study for 2018, naming the Lone Star State as the worst in terms of distracted drivers.

“Drilling into some of the largest cities in the country, we also found some startling insights when looking at the average percent of time people spent using their phones while driving each day,” said the report. “Seattle remains the least distracted city in the country, while Houston took over as the most distracted city.”

Houston is followed by Miami, Detroit, San Jose and Los Angeles County as drivers who cannot seem to put the devices down while their feet are on the gas.

“And there it is: Houston is the city with the worst DUI statistics in Texas and the worst distracted-driving statistics in the entire United States,” reads a blog from Michael Grossman at Grossman Law Offices.

In June 2017, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 62, which prohibits texting while driving in the Lone Star State, making it the 47th state to pass such a law. The prohibition went into effect on Sept 1 of that year, carrying a fine of up to $99 for first-time offenders. Texas has also banned the use of hand-held phones in school zones.

Houston auto thieves prefer trucks, according to a report

In a report issued by the Houston Police Department in August 2019, the following is the Top 10 list of the most stolen vehicles during that month.

1. Chevrolet trucks: 228
2. Ford trucks: 201
3. GMC trucks: 73
4. Dodge trucks: 66
5. Honda cars: 62
6. Chevrolet cars: 40
7. Toyota cars: 39
8. Nissan cars: 28
9. Ford cars: 27
10. Toyota trucks: 23

A 2018 FBI report showed that in South Houston that year, there were 105 motor vehicle thefts, 75 thefts from a motor vehicle and 30 thefts of vehicle parts or accessories.

Vision Zero initiative

A group of national organizations in 2014 originally adapted Vision Zero, which developed in Sweden, to establish a national strategy on highway safety referred to as Toward Zero Deaths (TZD). It focuses on data-driven topics such as safer drivers, safer passengers, safer users, enhanced medical services, safer infrastructure and safer vehicles.

Houston wasted no time in joining hundreds of cities and towns across the country. In August 2014, Mayor Sylvester Turner signed an executive order to adopt Vision Zero Houston, a plan to end traffic deaths and serious injuries caused by crashes on Houston roads by the year 2030.

“Some will say this goal is unachievable,” said Tuner in a release. “But I say no loss of life is acceptable on our roadways, None, ZERO. Together we can create change, together we can make a difference, together we can shift the way we think about mobility and traffic safety, and not only see the Vision, but make it possible.”

Houston doesn’t have a lead foot

While numbers paint a less-than-rosy picture for drivers in Houston as it relates to drinking and driving or distracted driving, speed-related crashes are minimal in the county. The Texas Department of Transportation reported that in 2018, there was one fatal crash in 2018 in Houston County that can be attributed to speed. There was a total of 41 speed-related crashes in 2018 in Houston County.

How many vehicles are there on the streets of Houston?

There is public transportation available in Houston, which includes bus and rail lines. But Houston is a city of drivers, with an ownership rate of 94.4%, compared to the U.S. rate of 91%, according to Fox Business.

There were nearly 1.3 million vehicles in Houston proper in 2018 that are owned or rented by the city’s residents, according to census data.

Here’s how the estimates break down:

• Total vehicles: 1,268,601
• Owner occupied: 692,955
• Renter occupied: 575,646