Dallas County recorded fewer commercial-motor-vehicle crashes in 2025 than in 2024, but the reported numbers of people killed and people with suspected serious injuries increased. That is the main finding from a comparison of the Texas Department of Transportation’s published county tables.
For someone hurt in a truck collision, those figures provide context. They cannot establish who caused a particular crash, identify the responsible companies, or measure the full effect of an injury. Those questions require evidence about the collision itself.
What the Dallas County numbers show
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total crashes | 3,857 | 3,778 | 79 fewer (−2.0%) |
| Fatal crashes | 27 | 33 | 6 more (+22.2%) |
| Fatalities | 29 | 37 | 8 more (+27.6%) |
| Suspected serious injury crashes | 108 | 101 | 7 fewer (−6.5%) |
| Suspected serious injuries | 124 | 130 | 6 more (+4.8%) |
Sources: TxDOT’s 2024 county report, page 3, using records processed through April 9, 2025, and 2025 county report, page 3, using records processed through April 7, 2026. Percentages are calculated from the published counts and rounded to one decimal place.
Crashes classified as suspected serious injury crashes decreased, while the number of people recorded with suspected serious injuries increased. These are different measures: one crash can injure multiple people, and fatal crashes may also include seriously injured survivors. See the crash-severity definitions in this Texas A&M Transportation Institute analysis.
These are commercial-vehicle figures, not an 18-wheeler-only count
“CMV” means commercial motor vehicle. TxDOT’s crash-reporting definition is broader than tractor-trailers. It includes vehicles or combinations meeting specified weight-rating or registered-weight thresholds of 10,001 pounds or more, vehicles seating at least nine people including the driver when used to transport people, and vehicles carrying hazardous materials that require placards. See the 2025 reporting manual, glossary and commercial-vehicle section.
That distinction matters when reading a headline about “truck accidents.” These totals cannot be relabeled as 3,778 crashes involving only 18-wheelers. A narrower question requires a narrower data query.
The geography matters, too. The table covers Dallas County, not only the City of Dallas and not the entire Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. Combining neighboring counties without identifying them would answer a different question.
What “suspected serious injury” means
This is a crash-report classification. TxDOT’s instructions describe a severe injury that prevents normal activities and list examples such as significant burns, crush injuries, and suspected skull, chest, or abdominal injuries. The manual assigns a severity code to each person’s most serious injury.
The classification helps organize crash statistics. An individual claim still needs medical records and other evidence showing the actual injury, treatment, limitations, and losses. A person’s claim should not be evaluated from a county total or a label in an initial report alone.
What the comparison cannot establish
- Who was at fault. A crash involving a commercial vehicle does not automatically mean its driver or carrier caused it.
- Whether each mile of travel became more dangerous. These are counts. A risk-per-mile comparison would also need an appropriate measure of travel exposure.
- Why the figures changed. The county table does not establish that fatigue, speeding, maintenance failures, or any other particular factor caused the year-to-year difference.
- A decade-long record. Comparing two years does not establish an all-time high or a ten-year trend.
The reports are also separate snapshots, with different processing cutoffs. They are the versions linked from TxDOT’s annual-statistics pages when checked on October 26, 2026. Later supplemental reports or revisions may change the figures. This comparison does not assume that all years have been revised through the same date.
After a serious collision, identify the records that answer your questions
If you or a family member was hurt, the useful next step is to build an accurate record of that crash. Start with what you already have: the incident number, investigating agency, photographs, witness information, medical records, and communications about the collision. Preserve original files rather than editing or overwriting them.
Then separate the questions that different records can answer:
- What did officers document? Identify the crash report and any supplemental reports. Note which statements came from witnesses and which were the officer’s observations.
- What can show the movement of the vehicles? Potential sources include available camera footage, scene measurements, vehicle data, and physical damage. The available evidence depends on the vehicles and location.
- Which businesses were involved? Record the carrier name and identifying numbers, not just the brand painted on a trailer. Ownership, employment, dispatch, and shipping records may identify different companies with different roles.
- What did the injury change? Keep treatment records, work restrictions, missed-work documentation, and expenses organized by date. County statistics cannot supply this personal evidence.
There is an important records distinction: TxDOT says it is the custodian of the crash report, but not the investigating agency’s dash-camera video, photographs, or field notes. Those materials require a separate request to the agency that holds them. Access requirements and exemptions may apply. TxDOT’s crash-records guidance explains the available report-request routes.
A lawyer can assess which evidence needs to be preserved, who holds it, and the appropriate way to request it. Do not assume that obtaining the crash report also obtains the rest of the investigation.
Discuss the collision, not just the statistics
VB Attorneys’ truck-accident practice addresses serious commercial-vehicle collisions. Our explanation of freight-broker liability discusses another question that can arise when several businesses are involved in a shipment.
If you want a case reviewed, bring the details of the collision and the records you have. That gives a lawyer a basis to evaluate the specific facts rather than draw conclusions from an annual statistic.
Methodology: This article compares the Dallas County rows in two published TxDOT annual reports. It is not a new extraction from the live CRIS database or a review of individual crash files. Each percentage change equals (2025 count − 2024 count) ÷ 2024 count × 100. Sources checked October 26, 2026.