eyes on the road

Dallas swerves to No. 2 spot on new list of deadliest cities for Labor Day driving

Buckle up and avoid any distractions while traveling over the holiday weekend.

If Dallasites are planning to hit the road for that final summer trip over the long Labor Day weekend, they'll have to remain more cautious than ever before. A new report has found that Dallas experiences the second most traffic fatalities in the country over the Labor Day holiday.

The report by insurance agency Jerry analyzed traffic fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) between 2012 and 2021 to determine the most deadly cities and the number of fatal vehicle accidents throughout the holiday period, which begins from Friday at 6 pm through Tuesday at 6 am.

Texas overall had 409 traffic fatalities during the Labor Day holiday period, with Dallas riding into the top spot for the deadliest city in the state with 26 fatalities.

For comparison, California is the deadliest state for drivers over the Labor Day weekend with 438 traffic fatalities between 2012-2021. Los Angeles ranked higher than Dallas in the national ranking of deadliest cities, with 34 lives lost within the same time period.

In a similar examination of the deaths per capita in counties with populations over one million people for the Fourth of July holiday period, Dallas County ranked No. 4 with .23 traffic fatalities per 100,000 people.

"The Labor Day holiday is the deadliest summer driving holiday, and the second-deadliest driving holiday of the year, behind only Thanksgiving," the report said. "The number of people killed in traffic accidents over the Labor Day weekend rose 38 percent from 2012 through 2021, with an average of 447 lives lost every year."

The report additionally found that men in their 20s are the most at risk to be involved in a fatal crash over Labor Day, as they made up 1,160 fatalities between 2012-2021. Alcohol is a significant factor in these crashes; about 75 percent of the crashes involved at least one driver in their 20s and 30s that was tested for the substance.

The U.S. cities with the most traffic fatalities during Labor Day are:

Los Angeles, California (34 fatalities)
Dallas, Texas (26)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (22)
San Antonio, Texas (21)
Chicago, Illinois (19)
Charlotte, North Carolina (19)
Houston, Texas (19)
Louisville, Kentucky (18)
Phoenix, Arizona (16)
Flushing, Queens, New York (15)

The full report can be found on getjerry.com.

Labor Day holiday Traffic fatalities dallas reports traffic

Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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