Austin continued making progress on its goal of reducing the number of severe traffic crashes in 2025, according to data from the city’s Vision Zero program.
The city recorded 99 traffic fatalities and 301 serious injuries last year. Although fatalities increased by 2% overall, serious injuries fell by 28%. That’s a combined 22% decrease in the most severe crashes.
Pedestrian outcomes also improved with 23% less fatalities and 15% less serious injuries reported than in 2024. That represents the lowest pedestrian share of severe crashes Austin has seen in recent years and comes as cities across the country continue to struggle with elevated pedestrian risk. This trend continues as traffic deaths nationally level off from pandemic-era highs.
The data showed that overall serious injuries declined in recent years, and the 2025 figure is the lowest count since Austin established the Vision Zero program a decade ago. It’s a noticeable decrease since the peak of 117 deaths and 540 serious injuries recorded in 2022.
What explains the decrease? The city acknowledges it’s a complex question, but pointed to Austin’s recent transportation safety investments, including major intersection projects (linked to a 38% reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes) and protected intersections (linked to a 42% reduction). About three-quarters of Austin’s traffic fatalities occur on roads owned by the state of Texas.
When it comes to transportation mode category, deaths among motorcyclists, bicyclists, and e-scooter riders were up compared to 2024, but pedestrian fatalities dropped from 39 to 30. Serious injuries were down across all categories except for e-scooter riders, which rose by two to seven.
And this drop in combined fatal and serious injuries per capital year over year came as Austin’s population rose. In 2024, the city recorded 49.3 serious injuries and fatalities per 100,000 population and that number dropped to 37.9 in 2025.