Higher Oil Prices Turn Texas Main Road Into The 'Death Highway'

[Rhiannon12866]

Rising oil prices have led to an increase in trucking of frac sand, water, oilfield equipment, pipes, and fuel in West Texas. Together with the higher truck traffic on a main road in Texas, fatalities involving truckers have surged since oil prices resumed their upward trend last year, according to data by the Texas Department of Transportation compiled by Bloomberg.

Long shifts behind the wheel, inexperienced truck drivers, and speeding on one of the main roads in Texas used for trucking sand, water, and equipment have earned Route 285 the name of the “Death Highway” among locals.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, 93 people died in fatal accidents involving trucks in 2017 just on the Permian section of the “Death Highway”, a highway that runs for 845 miles through the states of Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. That’s 43 percent higher than the number of fatalities back in 2012.

According to locals, there is a correlation between the price of oil and the number of fatal accidents along the highway in Texas. The number of deaths dropped in 2015, when oil prices crashed, but they started to rise again with the rally in the price of oil.

Route 285 may very well be “the deadliest highway in the United States,” Ralph McIngvale, a partner at Permian Lodging, which builds and runs so-called man camps in the area, told Bloomberg.


Read more: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Higher-Oil-Prices-Turn-Texas-Main-Road-Into-The-Death-Highway.html

[TexasTowelie]

1. I've been on that highway coming home from a college band tour in Carlsbad.

It was a two-lane highway and people were driving 75-80 mph even though the speed limit was 55 mph at the time. Considering the mixture of slow and fast traffic on that road it doesn't come as a surprise that there are so many deaths. It doesn't help that there are large distances between towns and the scenery is drab.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. It sounds like this is a result of speeding and inexperienced drivers

Is the speed limit still 55 on the highways there? When I was in college they reduced the highways speeds to 55 as well - though it remained at 65 through the less populated regions. But that was awhile back - it's back up to 65 everywhere now, which means most drivers go well over that.

[TexasTowelie]

3. I suspect that the speed limit is at 70 mph.

If the road was limited access like an interstate then it would probably go to 80. Of course we have the toll roll that runs around Austin where the limit is 85, but at least there are two lanes in each direction and a large median between both sides of the road.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Yikes!

If it's 80 or 85, judging by what I see on the highways here, that means most everyone will exceed that. Unless I'm approaching the city (Albany - where traffic is heavier and cars slow down) everyone exceeds the speed limit. If you try driving at 65, you're in the way and everyone passes you - which is another hazard. I don't like going over 70 and there have been plenty of times I get passed even then...