Like many regions in Texas — indeed, all over the country — Hidalgo County on the Texas-Mexico border has its share of dangerous roads.
In this study and analysis, the legal team at McAllen personal injury firm Patino Law has painstakingly compiled crash data from the thousands of accidents that occurred in the county in 2022 to answer key questions, including:
Using data gathered via the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Crash Records Information System (C.R.I.S.), we’ve compiled the latest statistics on accidents outside city limits and in Alamo, Alton, Donna, Edcouch, Edinburg, Elsa, Hidalgo, La Joya, La Villa, McAllen, Mercedes, Mission, Palmhurst, Palmview, Peñitas, Pharr, Progreso, Progreso Lakes, San Juan, Sullivan City, and Weslaco.
Patino Law Firm is the only place to see these all in one place without going into C.R.I.S. and analyzing the data for yourself.
We’ve also compared our findings against 2021 data so you can see how road activity and driver behavior have changed year on year.
Want to jump to a specific chart? Select your choice from the list below:
Discover how many accidents happened in Hidalgo County in 2022 versus 2021 at a total level, or get a quick glance at accident hotspots in Texas.
Based on reported data, a total of 21,747 accidents happened in Hidalgo County in 2022. Unsurprisingly, there were more accidents in larger cities, with Pharr contributing 3,192 crashes — just under 15% of the total across the county. Edinburg saw 2,919 accidents, followed by McAllen with 2,908 and Mission with 2,002.
How do the 2022 figures compare to 2021?
There were 20,502 auto accidents reported the year prior, representing a 6% increase in crashes in Hidalgo County from 2021 to 2022.
Interestingly, several cities reported more accidents in 2021 compared to 2022, despite the overall number being lower.
These were:
| 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Alton | 213 | 253 |
| Edcouch | 19 | 24 |
| La Villa | 3 | 10 |
| Peñitas | 152 | 207 |
Are accidents more likely to happen on some roads than others? Find out the top 10 most dangerous roads based on reported accidents across the entire county, or drill down at a city level and see where the most accidents occurred in McAllen, Weslaco, Edinburg, and more.
These charts show the top 10 most dangerous roads in the county based on reported accidents. See where most crashes occurred across the entire county or filter by city.
From its southern terminus in Brownsville, U.S. Highway 83 stretches the entire Valley. In Harlingen (Cameron County), it merges with Interstate 2 (I-2), heading west through the Hidalgo County cities of Mercedes, Weslaco, Donna, Alamo, Pharr, McAllen, Mission, and Peñitas.
In Peñitas, US 83 continues through Starr County and Zapata County and beyond the Valley through Laredo, Uvalde, Junction, and Wellington on its way to the Oklahoma state line, where it continues further north through Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota.
Its sheer length — some 1,885 miles — makes U.S Highway 83 a notorious accident hotspot, but many happen along the 47 miles comprising I-2.
Interstate Highway 2 topped the chart on a county level, with 2,737 accidents taking place on this road. I-2 also dominates in terms of accident count across multiple cities, which isn’t surprising, given the breadth of the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) it covers.
Interstate 69C (I-69C) — one of three I-69 auxiliary branches in South Texas — runs along part of U.S. Route 281 and passes through the Hidalgo County cities of McAllen, Pharr, and Edinburg.
Like any other high-speed freeway, I-69C contributes its share of accidents — 751 across the entire county in 2022.
This 47-mile road begins in Mission at an intersection with I-2 and US 83. As it travels north, it intersects with SH 495 — itself one of the most dangerous roads in the county, contributing 551 accidents in 2022.
After exiting Mission, it passes through Palmhurst, Alton, McAllen, and Edinburg, where it intersects with US 281 and I-69C. From here, SH 107 travels east through Elsa, Edcouch, and La Villa and southeast into Cameron County before heading east for a final time into Combes.
What causes motor accidents in Hidalgo County? Find out how many accidents happened as a result of speeding, driver inattention, failure to yield the right of way, and more in Hidalgo County in 2022 and 2021.
When a reportable accident occurs in Hidalgo County — any accident that causes injury or death must be reported immediately — an investigating officer will create a police report. In this report is a space for the officer to document one or more contributing factors. There are 70 total factors officers can select, ranging from driving while intoxicated to speeding, or officers can add their own. The crash report is vital evidence in a personal injury claim because it can demonstrate how the accident happened and who might be at fault.
So what are the most commonly cited contributing factors for accidents in Hidalgo County?
Want to dive even deeper into the factors responsible for accidents across the county? Discover the exact number of accidents that were reported each month and how they happened.
This chart shows how many accidents happened in each city, the month they occurred, and the contributing factors recorded.
The data shows that accidents in McAllen were fairly evenly spread throughout the year. Over 200 accidents happened in the city each month, with December being the only exception, when the long nights and poor weather resulted in 332 auto crashes. 102 of those — just under a third — were caused by drivers failing to control their speed.
One interesting takeaway from the crash data is the number of McAllen crashes caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol. It’s certainly not the most prevalent factor — drunk driving was cited as a contributing factor 23 times in December — but it does mark the high point of the year — perhaps owing to the Christmas festivities and holiday celebrations.
Crash reports cited drunk driving 16 times in January, 15 times in November and March, and as few as five times in March.
Many accidents in Hidalgo County were multi-vehicle crashes, but exactly how many vehicles were impacted in crashes in 2022 versus 2021? See whether more motorcycles crashed in McAllen or Alton, how many trucks were involved in collisions in Mercedes, how many school bus accidents were reported across the county, and more.
43,781 vehicles were involved in auto crashes in Hidalgo County in 2022. It’s worth remembering that this figure is higher than the total number of accidents in the county because many crashes involved two or more vehicles.
The majority of vehicles involved in crashes — just over a third — were four-door passenger cars. Sports utility vehicles (11,163) and pickups (9,445) also featured prominently, representing roughly 25% and 21% of total vehicles, respectively.
But do these figures correlate with the most common types of vehicles involved in crashes on a city level?
Not necessarily.
For example, outside city limits, more pickups were in crashes than sports utility vehicles.
In Hidalgo City, which recorded a much lower number of vehicles overall, the difference is even less stark. Four-door passenger cars dominated at 202, but trucks were just behind at 136.
Across the smaller cities in Hidalgo County, there was a marked improvement in the number of vehicles involved in crashes from 2021 to 2022. In 2021, at least one truck was involved in an accident in every city in the county bar Granjeno.
In 2022, no truck accidents were reported in Granjeno, Progreso Lakes, or La Villa. The most significant improvement can be seen in Donna, where the number of trucks reported halved year on year, down from 104 to 52. However, an uplift in truck crashes in larger cities like McAllen and Pharr led to an overall annual increase at the county level.
Discover how many individuals reported injuries in auto accidents in Hidalgo County and the most dangerous cities in the Rio Grande Valley based on the physical impact and trauma endured by accident victims.
An auto accident can cause a range of injuries. Many are lucky to walk away from a crash with no physical injuries, but others sustain life-changing injuries such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and burns.
Then, there are the injuries you can’t see — months or years of post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and mental anguish. This emotional impact can be equally devastating, causing injured parties to become withdrawn, which can impact their work and relationships with loved ones. Tragically, many auto accidents are fatal.
At a total level, 3,745 people suffered possible injuries in 2022, with 1,649 suffering suspected minor injuries, 346 suffering suspected serious injuries, and 72 suffering fatal injuries.
These injuries were classified according to the KABCO scale, created by the Federal Highway Administration to evaluate the severity of an auto crash. Each letter of the scale corresponds to a severity type as follows:
K- Killed
A – Suspected serious injury
B – Suspected minor injury
C – Possible injury
O (or N) – Unknown
In Texas, an additional category — 99 — denotes unknown injuries.
Each state categorizes injuries differently. In Texas, crashes are assigned a severity as follows:
The “unknown” category is reserved for crashes where it is impossible to determine whether a person has been injured, such as if they failed to stop and render aid, fled the scene, or were the negligent driver in a hit-and-run accident.
Fewer individuals involved in auto crashes in Hidalgo County sustained possible injuries in 2022 compared to 2021, but more fatalities, serious injuries, and minor injuries occurred.
Total injuries in Donna jumped from 143 in 2021 to 188 in 2022, largely driven by an increase in possible injuries. Suspected serious injuries dropped year on year, but three fatalities were recorded in Donna in 2022, up from none the year before.
In a reversal of this trend, the number of reported injuries in Mission dropped, from 357 in 2021 to 322 in 2022. This is thanks to a drop in possible injuries, down from 313 to 275. However, Mission saw a sizable increase in suspected minor injuries, up from 25 to 44.
We believe that the more you know about Texas roads and motorists’ behavior, the better equipped you are to avoid a potentially devastating accident.
While drivers and pedestrians are unpredictable — we’re all too familiar with the reality that an accident can happen unexpectedly — knowing which streets and highways are traditionally more dangerous and the common factors that cause accidents can help you stay alert and take preventive measures.
For example, you might see that Business US Highway 83 is the site of many accidents in Hidalgo County and that most crashes happened on that road in Alamo, so you strive to be even more diligent than usual when you pass through town.
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Hidalgo County, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. Our personal injury lawyers in McAllen can assess your accident and determine whether you have a claim. From there, we will gather evidence proving the other party’s fault — such as your crash report, which is not unlike the data we’ve analyzed here — and strive to achieve the fair compensation you deserve.
To find out more about how our McAllen personal injury attorney can help you, call 855-LAW-NINJA, submit a confidential contact form, or visit us at our office in McAllen, Hidalgo County. You can find us at 1802 N 10th St on the corner of Redwood Avenue — just opposite the Flamingo Plaza shopping center.
This study is based on 2022 and 2021 collision data from the Texas Department of Transportation. For more details or information on how we compiled this data, please contact us. Patino Law Firm encourages outlets and publications to report on or republish this study in part but asks that you credit Patino Law Firm by linking to this page.
When filing a personal injury claim, it’s vital to choose a law firm that you trust to fight for justice and get you the maximum possible payout. That’s why our personal injury lawyers in Texas offer a free, no-obligation case review so that you can see if we’re a good fit for you. After gathering some details on your accident and injuries and how they’ve affected you, we’ll be able to advise on how likely your claim is to succeed, how much you could expect to earn in a settlement, or by taking your case to trial and what happens next. If you choose not to work with us after your initial consultation, that’s fine too.
We work on a contingency fee basis, so you won’t pay a cent unless we win your case. This means you can focus on your recovery without worrying about facing a hefty legal bill before you even get started.
Our dedicated and experienced personal injury lawyers in McAllen and San Antonio are here to help you get the compensation you deserve. To schedule your free consultation, call Patino Law Firm at 855-LAW-NINJA or contact us online.
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