The Most Dangerous Interstates in Texas

Texas was a major throughline in Hartley Law’s national analysis of the most dangerous highways in the US. Seven of the 20 interstates with the highest fatal-crash rates nationwide pass through the state, including I-45—the most dangerous interstate in the country, with 18.95 fatal crashes per 100 miles in 2024. Texas also recorded 545 fatal crashes across its interstate system that year, more than any other state.

Those findings warranted a closer look at the roads Texans use every day. Using 2024 fatal-crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System and interstate mileage data from the Federal Highway Administration, Hartley Law analyzed fatal crashes per 20 miles of highway on each interstate in the state to identify the most dangerous interstates in Texas.

The Five Most Dangerous Interstates in Texas

These are the five most dangerous interstates in Texas:

1. I-45 – 3.79 fatal crashes per 20 miles
2. I-35 – 2.90
3. I-14 – 2.39
4. I-2 – 2.14
5. I-20 – 2.04

I-45 is not only Texas’s most dangerous interstate, but it is the most dangerous interstate in the country. The 285-mile route recorded 54 fatal crashes in 2024, or 3.79 per 20 miles of highway. Connecting Galveston, Houston, Huntsville, Corsicana, and Dallas, I-45 carries drivers through some of Texas’s largest metro areas and along a major Gulf Coast-to-North Texas corridor. 

The Texas Department of Transportation began work on the $13 billion North Houston Highway Improvement Project in late 2024, which is rebuilding parts of I-45 and nearby connecting freeways around downtown Houston. TxDOT said portions of I-45 did not meet current roadway design standards, creating a traffic-safety concern—a key reason the agency is pursuing the project. While this study cannot determine whether those design issues contributed to specific crashes, they help explain why I-45 is a priority for long-term safety and mobility improvements.

I-35 is Texas’s second-most dangerous interstate, with 73 fatal crashes across its 504 miles in the state (2.9 crashes per 20 miles). It connects Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Fort Worth, and Dallas, making it one of the state’s longest and most consequential north-south routes. TxDOT describes I-35 through Austin as one of Texas’s most congested highways. 

I-20 had 65 total fatal crashes, but its much longer 636-mile stretch through Texas (from Midland-Odessa through Fort Worth and Dallas to Longview) placed it fifth by crash rate, at 2.04 fatal crashes per 20 miles.

The shorter routes in the ranking deserve a closer look, too. I-14, which runs through the Killeen-Temple area, had only three fatal crashes but a rate of 2.39 per 20 miles across just 25 miles of roadway. In South Texas, I-2 ranked fourth, with five fatal crashes across nearly 47 miles between McAllen and Harlingen (2.14 crashes per 20 miles). 

Other Texas Interstates With High Fatal-Crash Rates

I-69 ranked sixth, with 11 fatal crashes and a rate of 1.99 per 20 miles, while I-10 ranked seventh despite recording 84 total fatal crashes—the most of any interstate in Texas. I-10’s 881 miles in Texas, stretching from El Paso through San Antonio and Houston to the Louisiana border, spread those crashes across the state’s longest interstate route.

I-37, which connects San Antonio and Corpus Christi, ranked eighth with 13 fatal crashes, or 1.82 per 20 miles. The highway is also a major South Texas freight and hurricane-evacuation corridor. I-30, an east-west route linking the Dallas-Fort Worth area with the Arkansas border, followed with 20 fatal crashes and a rate of 1.79 per 20 miles.

What These Findings Mean for Texas Drivers

Texas’s size means its interstate risks look different from one corridor to the next. I-45’s high crash rate, I-35’s leading crash total, and the presence of shorter high-rate routes such as I-14 and I-2 all show why it is important to consider both the number of fatal crashes and the length of the road. These findings cannot predict an individual crash, but they offer a clearer view of where fatal crashes were most concentrated in recent years. 

On long interstate drives, simple habits can make a meaningful difference: check road and weather conditions before leaving, slow down when conditions call for it, leave plenty of following distance, and pull over when fatigue starts to set in.

For a broader look at the interstate routes and states that stood out nationwide, explore Hartley Law’s analysis of the most dangerous highways in the US.  

A serious crash can leave you dealing with injuries, missed work, vehicle damage, and difficult insurance questions all at once. Hartley Law’s Dallas car accident lawyers help injured Texans understand the next steps, protect key evidence, and pursue accountability from the parties responsible.

Methodology

Hartley Law analyzed 2024 fatal-crash records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to identify the most dangerous interstates in Texas. We obtained the total mileage of each interstate within Texas from the Federal Highway Administration. For every qualifying interstate, we counted fatal crashes recorded on that route in Texas during 2024, divided the total by the highway’s Texas mileage, and multiplied the result by 20 to calculate fatal crashes per 20 miles.

Interstates with fewer than 10 miles of roadway in Texas were excluded to avoid skewed results from extremely short segments. We ranked the remaining routes from highest to lowest based on their fatal-crash rate.

Fair Use

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