Texans: Don’t get caught speeding in these counties

Texans: You might want to slow down a little on the roads.

Last year, more than 1.2 million speeding tickets or warnings were issued to drivers across the Lone Star State — where speed limits often reach 75 mph, even 85 mph in some places — by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, state records show.

The most tickets were issued in Hidalgo and Cameron counties, in South Texas, and near Houston, in Brazoria, Harris and Montgomery counties, a Star-Telegram analysis of Texas Department of Public Safety data from 2017 shows.

“The Texas Highway Patrol issues more speeding citations/warnings than any other violation,” said Tom Vinger, a DPS spokesman. “We also continually stress in our communication with the public that drivers should slow down — even when going below the posted speed limit in bad weather, construction areas, heavy traffic and unfamiliar areas.”

Tarrant County ranked 33rd on the list with 8,171 violations — 3,046 tickets and 5,125 warnings — and Dallas ranked 80th, with 5,520 DPS-issued violations.

Higher on the list: Parker County was seventh with 19,455; Collin was ninth at 16,750; and Denton was 11th with 15,761, according to the data.

Across the state, DPS troopers actually issued twice as many warnings last year as actual tickets — 858,346 to 355,116, data shows.

The goal, officials say, is just to slow down traffic.

“It is commonplace for DPS to issue more warnings than citations,” Vinger said. “A warning is a traffic enforcement action, and is just as important as a citation. The goal of traffic enforcement is ultimately to achieve voluntary compliance with traffic laws, and warnings, like citations, affect driver behavior.

“Troopers have discretion on when to issue a ticket or warning based on the seriousness of the violation, the degree to which the violation was committed, the circumstances surrounding the offense, and the number of prior violations committed.”

More speeders

The number of tickets issued on Texas highways has gone up in recent years.

In 2015, 291,441 tickets were issued. That rose to 317,443 in 2016 and 355,116 in 2017, DPS records show.

Despite all the warnings issued across the state, there were 13 counties where drivers were more likely to get a ticket than a warning: Bastrop, Brazoria, Caldwell, Coke, Ector, Fayette, Gillespie, Gonzales, Lee, Live Oak, Loving, Sutton and Winkler.

“Population booms may ... affect the number of officers issuing warnings,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. “More drivers means more potential violations.”

Saving lives

DPS officials stress that their data doesn’t represent all the speeding tickets issued in Texas.

Troopers generally don’t focus on traffic enforcement in cities such as Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin or Houston that have police forces doing the same thing.

That leaves them working, for the most part, in rural and unincorporated areas — and many highways.

In a state with more than 310,000 miles of public roads, officials say it’s crucial that drivers be safe.

“Slowing down saves lives. Period,” Vinger said. “The unfortunate and alarming fact is that speeding results in needless, preventable deaths and serious injuries frequently on roadways across Texas and the nation. In fact, speeding is one of the leading contributors in fatal crashes and total crashes in Texas.”

‘Drive responsibly’

Speeding tickets and warnings were issued last year in every one of the state’s 254 counties.

The most citations — 21,262 tickets and 44,047 warnings — were issued in Hidalgo County, near the state’s southern border.

“Hidalgo County is one of the most populous counties in the state, and has more troopers assigned than in any other county,” Vinger said.

The fewest citations — one ticket and three warnings — were issued in Borden County, the fourth-least populous county in the state.

Some other interesting facts:

▪ Three other counties saw fewer than 100 DPS-issued speeding tickets or warnings last year. Cochran County motorists saw 42 tickets and 49 warnings; Kent County drivers received seven tickets and 56 warnings; and Motley County motorists saw 13 tickets and 73 warnings.

▪ Texas counties with the highest percentage of speeding warnings last year included Sabine, Hansford, San Augustine, Shelby and Stonewall.

▪ Near Tarrant: There were 8,213 tickets and 11,242 warnings in Parker; 2,690 tickets and 2,830 warnings in Dallas; and 3,123 tickets and 4,001 warnings in Johnson. There also were 907 tickets and 5,673 warnings in Hood; 6,202 tickets and 10,548 warnings in Collin; and 7,059 tickets and 8,702 warnings in Denton.

DPS officials offer safe driving tips: don’t drink and drive, don’t drive tired, don’t text and drive and always slow down or move over for police, emergency or transportation workers and tow trucks.

They ask motorists to check for road conditions or closures online at drivetexas.org. And they ask that Texans report any road hazards or anything suspicious.

More than anything, they ask Texans to buckle up and slow down.

“All drivers have a duty to obey traffic,” Vinger said. “They also have an obligation to everyone on the roadway to drive responsibly each time they get behind the wheel.”

Top counties for DPS violations

This story was originally published July 16, 2018 at 6:00 AM.