Like many major cities, Austin, TX, has numerous intersections and roadways known for frequent accidents. If you’ve been injured in a traffic collision, you may be entitled to seek compensation from the at-fault driver. McMinn Personal Injury Lawyers can help you navigate the process when you call (512) 474-0222.
Austin has adopted the “Vision Zero” initiative, a strategy based on the belief that traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable. By improving road design, enhancing traffic control measures, and enforcing safety laws, the city aims to eliminate fatal crashes.
A critical step in this effort is identifying the most dangerous intersections, though until Vision Zero’s goals are met, crashes will likely continue to occur in these high-risk areas. If you’ve been in a crash, contact our team to schedule a free consultation with an Austin car accident lawyer.
McMinn Personal Injury Lawyers is a family-run personal injury law firm dedicated to helping our injured clients. Our attorneys have over 40 years of combined experience helping accident victims in Austin, Texas. Our track record of success includes more than $500 million in settlements and court awards recovered for our clients.
After a collision caused by someone else’s negligent driving, our attorneys can assist you in the following ways:
Car accidents can cause severe physical and mental trauma, regardless of where they occur. Contact our team today to schedule a free consultation with an Austin personal injury attorney to discuss your injuries and how we can help you seek compensation for the losses you’ve suffered.
Car accidents result primarily from risky driving. Tailgating, impaired driving, and speeding are all common causes. However, geography also plays a role. Certain roads may have inherent features, such as blind intersections or unbanked curves, that create the necessary conditions for a collision.
Poor traffic controls can also contribute to crashes. Roads that lack pedestrian crossings or traffic lights may prompt drivers and pedestrians to make risky moves to reach their destinations. Similarly, high speed limits can tempt drivers to go too fast, even after dark or in poor weather.
When these two factors combine, accidents tend to happen. For example, heavy traffic increases the risk that tailgaters will hit other cars simply because there’s less room to decelerate between vehicles. Similarly, pedestrian accidents are more likely on wide roads with long distances between intersections.
Road and intersection crashes happen for many reasons. Road crashes occur most often when drivers are distracted or inattentive. For example, a driver might cause a rear-end collision while texting or a sideswipe crash when they fail to spot the car next to them.
Intersection collisions, by contrast, typically happen when a road user violates the right-of-way rules, which indicate the order in which road users can proceed under various circumstances.
When someone goes out of turn or disobeys traffic signals, a collision may result. Thus, a driver who tries to beat a pedestrian by speeding up at a crosswalk could hit the pedestrian or another driver who yields.
Austin has a high-injury network map showing the city’s most dangerous roads.
The map includes the following locations:
The city’s high-injury network doesn’t include any interstate or state highways. That’s not because these roads are safe; it’s simply an administrative issue. These roads aren’t included because the city isn’t responsible for their design or upkeep. Instead, maintenance for these roads falls on the state and federal governments.
You can identify which highways qualify as Austin’s most dangerous roads by searching the state’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS).
Such a search returns the following additional locations as crash hotspots:
Collisions on these roads often occur at high speeds since the limits are higher.
You can use the same CRIS query to identify the most problematic intersections in Austin.
These include:
Intersections are also perilous for pedestrians. Some hotspots for pedestrian collisions include 6th Street at Congress Avenue and San Antonio Street at Cesar Chavez Street.
When you get hurt while driving in Austin, Texas, you may be entitled to seek financial compensation from the driver who hit you. Contact McMinn Personal Injury Lawyers for a no-cost consultation to learn more about the damages you can pursue under Texas law and how an Austin car accident attorney can help.
