BRYAN, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation started its 'Be Safe, Drive Smart' campaign. The campaign is designed to encourage drivers to slow down on the roadways and keep the speed limit in mind.
Bob Colwell, Public Information Officer for the Bryan District department, said Bryan and College Station saw more than 500 crashes in 2021.
Colwell said the campaign started on June 7 and ends on June 21. Colwell also shared statewide data regarding speed-related accidents in 2021.
- In 2021, there were 552,064 total traffic crashes in Texas, resulting in 4,489 fatalities and 19,445 serious injuries.
- In 2021, there were 163,756 traffic crashes in Texas in which speed was a contributing factor, resulting in 1,532 fatalities and 6,493 serious injuries.
- This was a 16% increase in crashes involving speed over the previous year (140,792 in 2020).
- This was an 8% increase in fatalities involving speed over the previous year (1,415 in 2020).
- In 2021, 30% of all traffic crashes in Texas involved speed.
- In 2021, 34% of all traffic crash fatalities in Texas involved speed.
- Speeding ranked as #1 on the list of contributing factors cited in traffic crashes occurring in 2021.
- The number of traffic crashes in the Bryan District in 2021 that involved speeding totaled 3,251. These crashes resulted in 29 deaths and 155 serious injuries.
Colwell said that he wants to see a deathless day. Since 2000, there has been a death in texas due to crashes.
"We want to have a deathless day on our roadways and we haven't had that since November 7, 2000. We believe we can do that and we can do better," said Colwell.