Earlier this year, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) published a news release regarding the implementation of a new safety campaign aimed at addressing concerns with the rising rate of serious motor vehicle accidents in the Eagle Ford Shale region of Texas. This region, comprised of 23 counties in south Texas, has seen an increase in oil and gas production in recent years. Although the increase in oil and gas production has provided economic opportunity in the region, it has also introduced traffic and driving concerns that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is attempting to address through the safety campaign, Be Safe. Drive Smart.

According to recent crash data from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), there were 248 traffic fatalities in the Eagle Ford Shale region in 2012 alone. This was a 40 percent increase in traffic fatalities when compared to 2011 crash data. Furthermore, there were 2,723 crashes involving serious and fatal injuries in the same region in 2012. According to the data, driver inattention and failure to control speed were two of the main reasons for these crashes.

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) officials have cited an increase in commercial vehicle traffic on rural roads as one of the growing problems in the Eagle Ford Shale region. While in the past rural roads were reserved mainly for passenger vehicles, the growing influx of oil and gas production vehicles has necessitated sharing rural roads with heavy trucks. Indeed, according to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) 2012 crash data, nine percent of crashes in the Eagle Ford Shale region resulting in a fatality or a serious injury involved a commercial vehicle.

See the Texas Department of Transportation’s news release at:

http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/safety/be_safe_drive_smart/news_release_efs.pdf