Changes made to dozens of high-crash intersections throughout Austin have resulted in a 31 percent drop in crashes that result in death or serious injury, city officials said Wednesday.
New data from the city’s Vision Zero program shows that of the 13 intersections with a least one year of crash data, total crashes dropped by 30 percent, while crashes resulting in serious injury or death saw a 31 percent reduction.
Vision Zero is the city of Austin Department of Transportation’s program to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities along the city’s roadways. As part of the program, the Transportation Department has completed work at 19 major intersections, the city said.
Just 13 of those intersections had a year of crash data, however. At those locations, total crashes went from 326 per year before the work was performed to 229 crashes after the work was completed. The number of serious injuries or fatalities fell from an average of 12 per year to 8.3 per year, the Vision Zero Analytics report showed. In comparison, similar intersections across the city showed that during the same time period total crashes decreased by 4 percent while serious injury and fatal crashes increased 8 percent.
Across the country, traffic fatalities are rising. Any reduction at the intersections could have additional benefits, the city said, in that it could provide guidance for other cities on effective strategies to reduce severe crashes over time.