Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show Labor Day trails only the Fourth of July in the average number of fatal car crashes in Texas.
From 2004-2018, NHTSA reported 522 deaths on Texas roads over Labor Day weekend.
Last year, the Texas Department of Transportation recorded 382 crashes involving drunk drivers over Labor Day weekend. In those crashes, 12 people died; 55 were seriously injured.
"Every single of them could have been prevented if people had taken a few basic steps and made sure they did not get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol," says TxDOT's Val Lopez. "It is absolutely heartbreaking. It is tragic, and it is entirely preventable."
Lopez says those steps include planning ahead if people plan to drink at a party. He says groups should designate a sober driver, "not the person who drank the least," or make plans ahead of time to use public transportation, or call a taxi or rideshare.
Lopez says TxDOT is spending $600 million on safety measures to try to prevent drunk drivers from crashing. Those include widening shoulders, adding rumble strips along shoulders and installing more wrong-way signs.
"One of the counter-measures we're implementing is lowering those signs and also installing flashing wrong way signs, which catches their attention," he says.
TxDOT has been running a campaign called, "End the Streak." Texas has not had a day free of fatalities on roads since November 7, 2000. Lopez says Texas had at least one fatality each day even during the height of shut-downs and "stay at home" orders because of the pandemic this spring and summer.
"An average of ten people have died every day in the state, both on our highway system and city streets," he says. "We know this is a weekend where people are going to enjoy themselves at parties, the beach or the lake, but unfortunately, this is a time when many people end up losing a loved one due to drinking and driving."
From 2004-2018, only California had more total deaths over Labor Day weekend with 547, according to NHTSA. But Texas had the most deaths attributed to alcohol-related crashes in the country with 245.
