Five Tarrant County spots are among Texas' most dangerous for pedestrians, study says

Five places in Tarrant County rank among the most dangerous in the state for pedestrians, according to a study conducted by a San Antonio law firm.

The Hill Law Firm plotted data points across the state from collisions involving pedestrians from 2012-2015, which was the latest full year for which Texas Department of Transportation data is available. The study pointed to 73 locations across the state with disproportionately high totals of crashes. All together, the locations accounted for thousands of crashes and injuries, and 41 fatalities.

Fort Worth is home to four of those locations, and Arlington is home to another. In comparison to the other big cities in Texas, Fort Worth's four danger zones are fewer than San Antonio at 17, Houston, 15, Dallas, 10, Austin, 9 and El Paso, 5.

Of the 73 danger zones in Texas, Tarrant County's most dangerous is listed as East Lancaster and Riverside, where 16 crashes involving pedestrians resulted in 21 injuries and one death from 2012 to 2015, according to Hill's data. That area is the 12th-most-dangerous place for pedestrians in Texas, according to the list.

The East Lancaster area is a well-known gathering spot for Fort Worth's homeless population, as shelters and outreach services are based there.

This is a good place to offer one caveat, though. Hill's data does not always single out actual street intersections. It tends to bunch incidents into small geographical zones, in order to correlate more crashes.

For instance, Fort Worth's next two entries came in at Nos. 36 and 37 on the list. West Belknap (36) saw 13 crashes involving pedestrians that resulted in 13 injuries during the specified years, while Main Street (37) came in with the same stats.

The difference? The law firm took into account the severity of each collision, in what Hill calls its pedestrian danger index. Main Street has a slightly lower index than does West Belknap, according to the study.

The Las Vegas Trail area comes in at No. 52 on the list, with 11 crashes for nine injuries and one death. The area near Arlington High School is listed at No. 66 of the 73 most dangerous spots for walking, with 10 crashes involving pedestrians and nine injured.

Matthew Martinez: 817-390-7667; @MCTinez817

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Five Tarrant County spots are among Texas' most dangerous for pedestrians, study says."