Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

1,472 CRASHES IN
AUSTIN, TX
MARCH 2019

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2018

In March 2019, Austin recorded 1,472 motor vehicle crashes, a 3.0% increase from the 1,429 crashes reported in March 2018. While the total number of fatalities remained unchanged at four, the composition of those killed shifted significantly. Pedestrian fatalities doubled from one to two and one cyclist fatality was recorded, compared to none in the prior year, while fatalities involving motor-vehicle occupants decreased from three to one.

1,472

3.0%was 1,429

Total Crash Events

4

Persons Killed

896

7.7%was 832

Persons Injured

4

-20.0%was 5

Fatal Crash Events

Note: "Persons Killed" (4) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (4) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.

Source: Austin Crash Reports · Socrata Open Data · 2019-03-01 to 2019-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Crash volume in Austin showed a slight upward trend in March 2019 compared to the same month in 2018, with total crashes increasing by 3.0% from 1,429 to 1,472. The number of reported injuries also rose by 7.7%, from 832 to 896. The total number of fatalities remained stable at four for both periods.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

2

Pedestrians Killed

Prior: 1100.0%

1

Cyclists Killed

Prior: 0%

1

Motorists Killed

Prior: 3-66.7%

0

Pedestrians Injured

Prior: 00.0%

0

Cyclists Injured

Prior: 00.0%

0

Motorists Injured

Prior: 00.0%

Source: Austin Crash Reports · Socrata Open Data · 2019-03-01 to 2019-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal patterns of crashes saw minor shifts between March 2018 and March 2019. The peak day for crashes moved from Friday, with 249 incidents in 2018, to Saturday, with 250 incidents in 2019. The peak hour also shifted from 4 p.m. in the prior year (127 crashes) to 5 p.m. in the current year (104 crashes).

Source: Austin Crash Reports · Socrata Open Data · 2019-03-01 to 2019-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Austin Crash Reports · Socrata Open Data · 2019-03-01 to 2019-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

The overall severity of crashes decreased slightly in March 2019 compared to the previous year. The fatal crash rate fell from 0.35% to 0.27%, with 4 fatal crashes recorded in 2019 versus 5 in 2018. Similarly, the proportion of crashes resulting in serious injuries declined from 2.9% to 2.3%. The share of crashes involving minor or possible injuries saw a slight increase, rising from a combined 38.3% to 39.0% of all incidents.

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Fatal4fatal crashes0.3%
-20.0%prior 5
Serious Injury34serious injury crashes2.3%
-19.0%prior 42
Minor Injury273minor injury crashes18.5%
5.0%prior 260
Possible Injury301possible injury crashes20.4%
4.5%prior 288
Injury99minor injury crashes6.7%
1.0%prior 98
No Injury761no injury crashes51.7%
3.4%prior 736

Source: Austin Crash Reports · Socrata Open Data · 2019-03-01 to 2019-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Austin Crash Reports · Socrata Open Data · 2019-03-01 to 2019-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Speed Limit Zones

The distribution of crashes across speed zones indicates a slight shift toward lower-speed roads in March 2019. The proportion of crashes occurring in zones with speed limits of 50 mph or higher decreased from 45.8% of crashes with speed data in 2018 to 43.7% in 2019. The locations of fatal crashes also changed, with 2019's fatalities occurring in 35, 45, and 60 mph zones, whereas the prior year's occurred in 50, 55, and 70 mph zones.

Fatal crashes by zone: 35 mph: 1 of 207 (0.483%) · 45 mph: 1 of 175 (0.571%) · 60 mph: 1 of 55 (1.818%)

Source: Austin Crash Reports · Socrata Open Data · 2019-03-01 to 2019-03-31 · Posted speed limit at crash location

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Austin Crash Reports (https://data.austintexas.gov/d/y2wy-tgr5), accessed programmatically via the Socrata Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.

Data Retrieval

  • Access method: Socrata Open Data API (SoQL queries)
  • Dataset URL: https://data.austintexas.gov/d/y2wy-tgr5
  • Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
  • Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
  • Date filter applied: 2019-03-01 through 2019-03-31
  • Report generated: July 6, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2019-03-01 through 2019-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: Austin, TX
  • Total crash records analyzed: 1,472

Analytical Methodology

  • Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
  • Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
  • Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
  • Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
  • Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
  • Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
  • AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.

Limitations & Disclaimers

  • Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
  • Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
  • Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
  • AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
  • Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.

Non-Affiliation Disclosure

This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.

Data License

The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.

Corrections & Feedback

If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.

Suggested Citation

ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "Austin, TX Crash Intelligence Report: March 2019." Published July 6, 2026. Reporting period: 2019-03-01 to 2019-03-31. Data source: Austin Crash Reports, Socrata Open Data. Dataset: https://data.austintexas.gov/d/y2wy-tgr5. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/texas/austin/march-2019-report

About the Publisher

ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.

Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai

ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company

Austin, TX Crash Report — March 2019 | ThatCarHitMe.com