Devin Downey | Sep 18 2026 21:55

Harris County Leads Texas in Truck Crashes: The 2025 Gulf Coast Numbers

Harris County had 5,913 crashes involving big trucks and buses in 2025. That is more than any other county in Texas, and it works out to roughly 1 out of every 7 truck crashes in the whole state.

Nothing else on the Gulf Coast comes close. Montgomery County was second in the region with 674.

Harris County by itself had more truck crashes than all eleven counties of Central Texas put together.

Where these numbers come from

The state of Texas publishes a yearly count of truck and bus crashes in every county. It is part of TxDOT's annual crash reports, and the counts come straight from the reports police fill out after a wreck.

Keep in mind that the state counts more than 18-wheelers here. Box trucks, buses, and other large work vehicles are included. The federal government tracks the same kinds of crashes nationally in Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts.

This article shares public safety data. It is not legal advice.

Gulf Coast counties, ranked

Rank County Truck and bus crashes Deadly crashes Deaths Serious injury crashes
1 Harris 5,913 41 43 108
2 Montgomery 674 1 1 29
3 Jefferson 570 5 5 18
4 Fort Bend 489 7 7 13
5 Galveston 250 1 1 4
6 Brazoria 250 3 3 12
7 Chambers 239 3 4 9
8 Orange 237 4 4 3
9 Waller 165 2 2 6
10 Liberty 154 5 5 12

This is about freight, not just population

Houston does not top this list only because a lot of people live there. It tops the list because of what moves through it.

The Port of Houston sends a steady stream of container trucks onto local roads every day. Chemical plants along I-10 East and SH-225 run their own heavy traffic. On top of that, long-haul trucks pour through on I-45, I-69, and the Beltway. Very few cities in the country stack that much freight in one place.

The smaller counties around Houston tell the same story. Chambers County is not a big place, but it had 239 truck crashes. Waller County had 165, and Liberty County had 154. Those counties do not generate much truck traffic of their own. They are places freight drives through on the way somewhere else.

Texas health officials looked at this from another angle and found the same concentration. Their review of ambulance and hospital records showed Harris and Dallas counties alone made up more than half the truck crash injuries they tracked. (They count crashes differently than TxDOT does, so the totals are not the same, but the pattern holds.)

The most dangerous county was not Harris

Harris County has the most crashes by far. It is not where a truck crash is most likely to kill you.

In Harris County, fewer than 1 in every 100 truck crashes killed someone. In Liberty County, it was closer to 3 in every 100. Orange County was also well above the Houston rate.

The reason comes down to how rural crashes happen. Speeds are higher out there, and roads are often just two lanes, which makes head-on wrecks more likely. Help also takes longer to arrive, and the nearest trauma hospital can be a long drive.

Houston has enormous crash numbers, but a lot of those wrecks happen in slow, stop-and-go traffic. People still get hurt. Fewer of them die.

The state health data backs this up. It found truck crashes happen in rural areas more often than car crashes do, and that nearly 4 in 10 happen between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Harris County actually improved

Harris County had 5,913 truck crashes in 2025. The year before, the same state report counted 6,313. That is a drop of about 6 percent.

Fort Bend County fell further, from 605 down to 489. Montgomery County stayed flat.

One year of movement does not prove much on its own. Reporting changes can move these numbers too. Still, the direction is worth noting.

What this means for you

If you drive I-10 East, the plant corridor on SH-225, or I-45 up toward Conroe, you share the road with more heavy trucks than almost anyone in Texas.

There is an extra risk down here that most drivers never think about. A lot of these trucks carry fuel or chemicals. When one of those wrecks, the danger does not stop when the vehicles do.

The lesson from this data is the same one North Texas showed. The roads where crashes happen most are not the roads where crashes kill most. Rural highways at night are where the odds get worst.

What to do if a truck hits you

A truck crash is not a bigger version of a car crash. It is a different kind of case.

Trucking companies often have people at the scene within hours, taking photos and lining up their version of events. You will not have that.

The proof you need can also disappear on a schedule. Trucks track how long the driver has been working. Federal hours-of-service rules cap that time, and 49 CFR Part 395 lays out the limits. Most of it is recorded by an electronic logging device. Companies can erase some of those records after a set number of days.

Gulf Coast cases often have another wrinkle: several companies may share the blame. The driver, the trucking company, the business that loaded the trailer, and the shop that serviced the brakes can all be part of it. Port cases get more tangled still, because the truck, the trailer, and the cargo often belong to three different companies.

Here is what helps:

  1. Call the police and make sure a crash report gets written.
  2. Get checked by a doctor, even if you feel okay. Some injuries take days to show.
  3. Photograph everything, including the truck and any company name on the door.
  4. Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company's insurance.
  5. Call a lawyer soon, so a letter can go out telling the company to preserve its records.

We go deeper on our pages about driver fatigue and hours-of-service violations and black box and ELD evidence. We also have an evidence preservation checklist after a Texas truck accident you can work through right now.

Talk to Bryan Green and his team

If your family has suffered a death, traumatic brain injury, spine injury, or other life-changing harm in a crash involving an 18-wheeler or commercial vehicle, Bryan Green Law handles a limited number of serious cases across Texas.

There is no charge to talk, and you owe nothing unless we win. Because evidence can disappear, the sooner you call, the more we can protect.

Bryan Green built his practice on truck and commercial vehicle cases, including cases out of Houston.

Call us or use our contact page to set up a free case review.

Are you an attorney with a truck case? See our co-counsel and referral page.

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