The Most Dangerous Intersections in Arlington – and What They Mean for Your Claim

The Intersections, by the Numbers

The figures below come from an analysis of City of Arlington crash data — 43,368 crashes recorded between 2018 and 2024 — collected through the city’s Safe Streets Arlington program. This is a review of the underlying data, not a ranking published by the City.

Two patterns stand out. Crash volume and fatality count are not the same measure: Cooper Street and I-20 leads on total crashes with 854, while Cooper Street and Pioneer Parkway, with fewer than half that volume, recorded the most deaths of any Arlington intersection at six.

Intersection

Crashes (2018-2024)

Deaths

Cooper St. & I-20

854

5

Cooper St. & I-30

545

5

Cooper St. & Division St.

539

4

Cooper St. & Pioneer Pkwy.

402

6 – most of any Arlington intersection

I-30 & SH 360

322

1

SH 360 & Pioneer Pkwy.

296

1

Division St. & SH 360

209

5

I-20 & Matlock Rd.

199

0

Source: an analysis of City of Arlington crash data (43,368 crashes, 2018-2024) collected through the Safe Streets Arlington program. Not a City-published ranking.

Cooper Street Carries Arlington’s Heaviest Crash Load

Four of the eight highest-crash intersections in the analysis sit on Cooper Street, and Cooper Street is Arlington’s most crash-prone road overall, with 5,693 crashes and 27 deaths between 2018 and 2024.

The corridor totals sharpen the picture. I-20 is the deadliest corridor in the city with 5,166 crashes and 44 deaths, followed by Cooper Street, SH 360 with 5,508 crashes and 22 deaths, and I-30 with 3,107 crashes and 16 deaths. I-20 produces fewer crashes than Cooper Street but far more fatalities — a straightforward consequence of speed.

The City’s Safe Streets plan, adopted in December 2024, notes that 70% of fatal and severe crashes occur on 6% of the road network, with a stated goal of zero traffic deaths by 2050. The trend is moving the right way: TxDOT recorded 35 fatal crashes and 38 deaths in Arlington in 2024, and roughly 30 deaths in 2025, a second consecutive decline.

What a High-Crash Location Means for Your Claim

Being hit at a busy intersection does not, by itself, make your claim stronger. Texas fault is decided by driver conduct, one collision at a time. Crash totals for a location are not evidence that any particular driver was negligent.

What decides these cases is ordinary and specific: who had the right of way, who turned left across traffic, who entered on a stale yellow, who was following too closely, who changed lanes into an occupied space. At a high-volume intersection these questions get harder because there are more vehicles, more angles, and more competing accounts.

Expect the other driver’s insurer to argue that you share responsibility. Under Texas comparative negligence, you recover only if you are 50% or less at fault, and your award drops by your percentage. At a complicated intersection, that argument is easy to make and has to be answered with evidence rather than recollection.

Busy Intersections Are Where Evidence Disappears Fastest

The upside of volume is witnesses and cameras. A Cooper Street collision at rush hour happens in front of drivers, pedestrians, and businesses. The problem is that all of it is perishable — independent witnesses leave within minutes, and commercial video is frequently overwritten within days.

Move on the things with the shortest shelf life first.

• Photograph vehicle positions before anything is moved, plus the signals, signs, lane markings and sight lines from your approach
• Get names and phone numbers from independent witnesses at the scene — not just the other driver’s passengers
• Note which nearby businesses face the intersection and whether their cameras cover it, then request that footage in writing immediately
• Preserve dash cam footage from your own vehicle before the device loops over it
• Photograph damage on both vehicles, which shows impact angle better than either driver’s memory
• Get medical attention promptly, because the gap between a crash and the first treatment is the first thing an adjuster looks for

Freeway Interchanges Add a Commercial Vehicle Problem

Several of the highest-crash locations are freeway interchanges, and freeways bring trucks. On I-20, roughly 6.4% of traffic is commercial — about one vehicle in fifteen is a tractor-trailer. On I-30 it is about 4.3%, and on SH 360 about 2.3%.

That changes the claim entirely. In 2024, Tarrant County recorded 1,716 commercial vehicle crashes and 19 fatal CMV crashes, roughly 10% of the county’s 189 fatal crashes. A truck case brings a motor carrier, a possible employer, federal safety regulations, higher policy limits, and a rapid-response investigator who may reach the scene before the tow truck does.

Construction is a further variable — 6.1% of Arlington crashes occurred in a construction zone, where lane shifts and merges change from month to month, and where what a driver should have done is judged against the conditions on that day.

If You Were Hit at One of These Intersections

The practical takeaway from the data is not that certain corners are cursed. It is that these locations produce a high volume of disputed-liability collisions, which is exactly the category where evidence gathered in the first week decides the outcome.

Get the crash report, secure any video, and be careful with recorded statements before liability is settled. If you were injured at a high-traffic Arlington intersection, Jim Ross Law Group offers a free consultation at 817-275-4100, and there is no fee unless we win.

This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different and past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Jim Ross Law Group, P.C., 2201 E Lamar Blvd #110, Arlington, TX 76006.