HOUSTON — Memorial Day and the days surrounding it are some of the most traveled days of the year.
Around 28.4 million Americans were expected to travel by car on Memorial Day — an increase of 4% from last year. A new study by the car insurance savings app Jerry suggests drivers in Texas, mostly in Houston and Dallas, should consider taking extra precautions.
When looking at the years 2018 through 2022, Jerry said it found that Texas had the highest number of traffic-related deaths over the holiday weekend and has the two deadliest cities for driving during this time in the country -- Houston and Dallas.
The study found that during those years, Texas had the highest number of Memorial Day traffic-related deaths at 218, followed by California at 181, Florida at 180 and Georgia at 79.
During those years, the study said Houston led the nation in traffic-related deaths with 20, followed by Dallas at 19. Those two Texas cities, according to Jerry, were ahead of Indianapolis at 18, Chicago at 16 and Los Angeles at 12.
When you look at per capita, Texas didn't make the top 10. The most traffic fatalities per capita was Delaware at 1.31. That's out of 100,000 people, followed by North Dakota (1.16), West Virginia (1.12) and South Carolina (1.07).
Here are more national trends reported by Jerry.
- Nearly three-fourths (74%) of Memorial Day weekend traffic fatalities are men and of those, 33% are men younger than 40. The study also found that of all traffic fatalities on Memorial Day Weekend, 33% were men and women younger than 30.
- Alcohol plays a role, too, according to the study. It found that 72% of fatal wrecks that involve speeding also involve at least one driver who had been drinking.
- It also found that Saturday night between 11 p.m. to midnight, is the deadliest period over the holiday weekend. That's followed by midnight Saturday until 1 a.m.
