The Texas Department of Transportation estimates that for the past several years, 10 people have died every day in crashes in Texas.

This grim reality ultimately led to the creation of TxDOT’s “End the Streak” campaign, which urges Texans to take personal safety measures when they take to the road to end the 21-year streak of daily deaths. The last day without a death on Texas roadways was Nov. 7, 2000.

According to TxDOT, most crashes and fatalities are preventable and caused by speeding, drunk driving and distracted driving. Texas Transportation Commissioner Laura Ryan said in a March 14 press release improving the roadways is a shared responsibility between drivers and the state.

“Driver behavior is one of the causes, but also one of the most important solutions,” Ryan said. “In 2021, a total of 1,522 people were killed because of speed, and a total of 1,219 people were killed because they were not wearing a seat belt. These were decisions made by people that could have potentially saved 2,741 lives.”

Fortunately for Sachse, there were no fatal crashes in 2021, according to TxDOT data.

According to crash data collected by the agency, from Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021, there were 290 crashes in Sachse, a 27% increase in traffic accidents – compared to 228 crashes in 2020.

“Nothing stands out over the past year,” said Sachse Fire-Rescue Chief Martin Wade. “However, the pandemic caused an overall decrease in incidents in 2020 and 2021 was not up to pre-pandemic numbers, probably because fewer folks were on the roads.”

For the full story, see the March 24 issue.