Truck accident statistics for Howard County, Texas (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in Howard County by year

Annual truck accident deaths rose from 4 in 2020 to 14 in 2021, fell to 2 in 2022, rose to 7 in 2023 and fell to 1 in 2024. The highest count was 14 in 2021; the lowest was 1 in 2024. The 2024 count was 3 deaths lower than the 2020 count.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The truck accident share of all traffic deaths followed the same sequence of increases and decreases: 28.6% in 2020, 82.4% in 2021, 33.3% in 2022, 63.6% in 2023 and 14.3% in 2024. All traffic deaths numbered 14, 17, 6, 11 and 7 in those respective years. Those totals include traffic deaths beyond crashes involving large trucks.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Deaths within 30 days in crashes on public roads. 2024 figures come from the FARS Annual Report File and can be revised.

Who died in Howard County truck accidents

People in the large truck accounted for 11 deaths, or 39.3%. People in other vehicles accounted for 16 deaths, or 57.1%, the largest person category. These categories describe the people who died in truck accidents, rather than the vehicles involved.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The row "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" recorded 1 death, or 3.6%. This is the FARS nonoccupant grouping, including pedestrians, pedalcyclists and other or unknown nonoccupants. Despite its wording, the label is not a literal test of being outside a vehicle: the other category can include occupants of parked motor vehicles.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The trucks involved

Fatal truck accidents in Howard County involved 28 large trucks during 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors, described in the table as semi or tractor-trailer units, numbered 22 and represented 78.6% of those trucks. Single-unit and other large trucks numbered 6. The count of large trucks recorded as jackknifed was 2.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

Each of these figures counts vehicles, not crashes or deaths. A fatal crash can involve multiple large trucks, so the truck accident vehicle count is distinct from the county's 23 fatal crashes and 28 deaths during the period.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

Counts are trucks, not crashes. One crash can involve more than one large truck.

How the fatal truck crashes happened

Manner of collision describes the first harmful event. Angle (side impact) recorded 7 deaths, or 25.0%; head-on recorded 7, or 25.0%; rear-end recorded 6, or 21.4%; and sideswipe recorded 1, or 3.6%. "Not a collision with another moving vehicle" recorded 7 deaths, or 25.0%. That row means no collision with a motor vehicle in transport, such as a rollover or impact with a parked vehicle. A vehicle stopped in traffic can be in transport.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Separately, truck accident deaths by vehicle configuration were single-vehicle: 6, or 21.4%; two-vehicle: 18, or 64.3%; and three or more vehicles: 4, or 14.3%. These groupings are distinct from manner of collision.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Interstates, time of day and setting

Interstate truck accident deaths numbered 12, or 42.9%. The listed route-coded count for I-20 was 12 deaths. Interstate identification requires the interstate route code and a parseable interstate route number; the listed routes are a coded subset, not a full road network.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime, from 6 a.m. to 5:59 p.m., accounted for 17 deaths, or 60.7%. Nighttime, from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., accounted for 11, or 39.3%. Urban locations recorded 9 deaths, or 32.1%, and rural locations recorded 19, or 67.9%. Work-zone truck accident deaths numbered 3; that figure counts deaths, not trucks or crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck accident death rate compared with Texas and the United States

Howard County's truck accident rate was 17.4 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. The Texas rate was 2.5, and the United States rate was 1.6. The county rate was higher than both. Corresponding death counts were 28 for Howard County, 3,712 for Texas and 27,553 for the United States. No neighboring county rates are supplied in the fact sheet.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

These rates divide deaths by the sum of annual Census population estimates and multiply by 100,000. They do not adjust for miles driven or visitors. For readers searching for a truck accident lawyer, keep the grouping in view: these are crash-location counts, not counts based on where the people who died lived.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Rates divide deaths by the sum of annual Census population estimates, so they show deaths per 100,000 residents per year. They do not adjust for miles driven or for visitors.

About these figures

FARS is a census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Inclusion requires a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and an occupant or nonoccupant death within 30 days. Nonfatal crashes and injuries are excluded. County assignment uses crash location, not the deceased person's residence.^[9][6][7][8]

The 2020 through 2023 records are Final Files; 2024 uses the Annual Report File and remains subject to revision. Rate calculations use deaths divided by summed annual Census Bureau population estimates from Vintage 2025, multiplied by 100,000. The separately shown July 1, 2024 population estimate is not the denominator. Rates express average annual deaths per 100,000 residents without adjustments for miles driven or visitors.^[9][6][7][8]