November 7 marks 22 years since the last time no one died on Texas roads. The last fatality free day was November 7, 2000, and TxDOT launched its "End the Streak" campaign several years ago.
Since November 7, 2000, TxDOT said more than 79,000 people have died in crashes across the state, about ten people per day.
"The crash numbers, unfortunately, are just really going in the wrong direction. They're starting to go up every year," said TxDOT's Kenna Mitchell.
Mitchell says Collin County had recorded more fatalities through September than all of 2021. In Dallas County, she said more crashes have been caused by drunk driving and speeding than last year.
"It could be due to the population increase, it could be just drivers not paying attention," she said. "It could be anywhere at any time. It's not just one factor that's driving it."
Most crashes, TxDOT said, are caused by driver errors including speeding, distracted driving, people not yielding right of way or drunk driving.
"A lot of these are just really simple preventable things," Mitchell said.
The streak of fatalities continued even as people stayed home during the pandemic. TxDOT said the roads may have been less crowded, but people were driving faster and more likely to engage in risk factors like drunk driving or texting.
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Mitchell said some people may still not have adjusted to roads and highways getting busier again.
"Unfortunately, some driving habits might have slipped during that time with people not seeing traffic," she said. "Maybe they thought it's okay to check their phone or go ahead and speed."
TxDOT said it is using "three e's" to end the streak of fatalities: education, enforcement and engineering.
"We're trying to address areas where there's congestion, trying to put in different safety improvements, trying to improve the roadways, so there's a lot we're doing on our end to make it as safe a drive as possible," Michell said. "Really, the partners in this are the people whose hands are on the wheel."
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