The San Marcos Police Department Collision Investigation Team (CIT) investigated 11 major crashes, and nine fatal crashes within city limits in 2025 according to Russell Wilde, SMPD public communications specialist.
Wilde wrote in an email to The Star that he was unaware if there was an increase in accidents in 2025. Wilde provided data comparing November 2024 to November 2025, showing a 3% decrease in accidents. However, there was a 5% increase in accidents when comparing December 2024 to December 2025, with 14 more accidents in 2025.
Consumer Affairs conducted a study detailing five factors to designate Texas cities with a crash score. The factors include fatalities due to crashes, crashes related to bad driving, speeding fatalities, drunk driving fatalities and fatalities involving possible blood alcohol content. San Marcos ranked consistently among the top five in each category, being the fourth highest regarding deaths by speeding and deaths involving blood alcohol content and fifth highest regarding deaths involving driving under the influence.
San Marcos received a crash score of 56.60, ranking as the second highest in Texas, behind Galveston with a score of 97.63. San Marcos was considerably above the state average, which was 35.98, according to the study.
Subasish Das, an assistant civil engineering professor with core research in transportation safety, said there are multiple reasons crashes increased from 2022 to 2024, such as a growing population contributing to the number of miles traveled and high amounts of construction.
“The San Marcos population [is] increasing, and then if the population increases, it also increases the total number of vehicle miles traveled. So, [more] vehicle miles traveled means [there are] all kids of collisions, and then there [are] so many construction related works in San Marcos,” Das said. “In 2022, there [were] around 1,300 traffic crashes in San Marcos. … In 2024, it [was] over 1,500. So it is increasing.”
San Marcos has a variety of construction projects planned in the future, including rehabilitating a wastewater line along I-35 from Ellis to Wonder World and implementing shared pathways across the San Marcos River and I-35. Both projects are set to begin construction in 2027, according to San Marcos Capital Improvement Projects.
San Marcos officials, such as Sargent Garner Ames of the SMPD have stated in past interviews with The Star that the combination of distraction, construction and congestion lead to increases in roadway accidents.
Das said the main way to prevent accidents is to enact countermeasures. For drunk drivers, a counteraction would be an increase in enforcement. He also said that road geometry is important to preventing crashes.
“Make the lane wider … Provide enough shoulder width, edge line, maybe rumble strips so that we can prevent [running off the road crashes]” Das said. “For [pedestrians] and bicyclists, we need [facilities] like a sidewalk, definitely [a] crosswalk.”
Elyse Herbert, a psychology junior, said she has had a series of negative experiences driving within the San Marcos area.
“I’ve had several instances where the driving, not just the drivers on the road, but even the road structure itself in San Marcos, it did make me a little bit anxious while driving,” Herbert said.
Herbert said near the LBJ Student Center bus loop, drivers frequently drive dangerously around a curve. Approximately 25% of roadway deaths take place on curves yearly, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Around curves, drivers should slow down and follow warning signs and systems like delineation to help them stay in their respective lanes.
“People don’t slow down when they’re taking that turn. They’ll speed up, they’ll hug that line [very] close, and I could be all the way on the other side and still feel like I’m going to get hit,” Herbert said.
The Texas Department of Transportation offers advice to avoid crashes when driving; including ensuring usage of a seatbelt when driving, non-usage of phones when on the road and being mindful of road conditions.
