Many are drunken pedestrian deaths, which outnumber child pedestrian deaths in Harris County by 6 to 1. Houston's annual rate of 10.49 deaths by motor vehicle per 100,000 population is higher than some major cities and lower than others. It is average for larger Texas cities. Dallas is the highest in the state with 16.23. But the sharp increase in fatal accidents comes after 10 p.m., spiking again after 2 a.m. when the bars close.
Weekends are worse than weekdays.
Only 39 percent of fatal vehicle crashes in Harris County in 1997 were with another motor vehicle. One quarter were with a fixed object - typically a concrete barrier on a freeway, utility pole on a city street or ditch on a country road. Typical factors for fixed-object accidents are speed, fatigue, drunkenness and slick pavement. Twenty-three percent of fatal vehicle accidents are with pedestrians. The rest include rollovers and collisions with bicycles and with parked cars.