Ten fatal traffic crashes resulted in 14 deaths during 2022 in Wood County.

They were part of the 167 fatal crashes leading to 192 deaths in the Tyler District of the Texas Dept. of Transportation, which released preliminary numbers last week.

By comparison there were also 10 fatal crashes on county roadways in 2021 resulting in 12 deaths.

TxDOT also reported there were 528 total crashes in the county during 2022, with the most in April at 52.

Speed contributed to four Wood County fatalities in 2022 while three were the result of head-on crashes and two were the result of driving under the influence. One fatality each were pedestrian, bicyclist and motorcyclist. Three were for single vehicles running off the road.

Total crashes were down almost 10% over 2021 when 580 were reported.

For the district, which includes Anderson, Cherokee, Gregg, Henderson, Rusk, Smith, Van Zandt and Wood Counties, the top five contributing factors to fatal accidents were under the influence of alcohol - 31 fatal crashes, failed to drive in a single lane – 28 fatal crashes, unsafe speed – 25 fatal crashes, failed to control speed – 23 fatal crashes and pedestrian failed to yield ROW to vehicle – 18 fatal crashes.

Rural traffic crashes accounted for 77% of the district’s traffic fatalities; 147 people died in rural traffic crashes in 2022.