Wrong direction

Fort Worth has the 9th worst drivers in the nation, new study finds

Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Fort Worth has long been classified as one of the most traffic-ridden cities in the U.S., and its drivers are now being ranked among the worst in the nation, according to a new study by Forbes Advisor.

In its report "Cities With The Worst Drivers, Ranked," published February 8, Forbes Advisor analyzed the 50 most populated U.S. cities across five metrics to determine which have the worst drivers in the country. Those metrics, calculated per 100,000 city residents using a five-year average from 2017-2021, were: total number of fatal car accidents, number of people killed in fatal crashes, and number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk, distracted, or speeding driver.

Fort Worth ranked No. 9 overall, earning a score of 78.03 points out of a possible 100. Approximately 10.60 total fatal crashes occur per 100,000 residents in Fort Worth, the study found.

Fort Worth also had the fifth-highest number of fatal crashes involving a drunk driver out of all 50 cities in the report. Fewer than five crashes (4.7) occurred per 100,000 residents.

This troubling discovery isn't exclusive to Fort Worth; Texas as a whole struggles with drunk drivers. More than five people are killed in car crashes involving a drunk driver for every 100,000 Texans, according to a 2023 Forbes report.

Here's how Fort Worth ranked in the remaining categories:

No. 11 – Number of fatal crashes involving a distracted driver (0.92 per 100,000 residents)
No. 12 – Number of fatal crashes involving speeding (3.68 per 100,000 residents)
No. 18 – Number of people killed in fatal crashes (11.48 per 100,000 residents)

Forbes Advisor concluded that three of the top-15 U.S. cities with the worst drivers were located in Texas. Neighboring Dallas came in three spots ahead of Fort Worth, as No. 6, with a score of 90.97. San Antonio ranked No. 12.

The report found Dallas had the third-highest number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk driver, with 6.25 crashes per 100,000 residents.

Dallas also ranked No. 4 in the category for the highest number of fatal car accidents involving speeding: 5.69 per 100,000 residents.

The number of fatal car crashes involving distracted drivers was Dallas' lowest statistic. Less than one fatal car accident (0.69) occurred per 100,000 residents.

Here's how Dallas compared to the rest of the cities in the report in the remaining two categories:

No. 7 – Total number of fatal car accidents (14.61 per per 100,000 residents)
No. 7 – Number of people killed in fatal crashes (15.77 per 100,000 residents)

The most dangerous U.S. city to drive in, Forbes says, is Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque leads with the highest number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver, at 5.42 crashes per 100,000 city residents.

The top 10 cities with the worst drivers are:

No. 1 – Albuquerque, New Mexico
No. 2 – Memphis, Tennessee
No. 3 – Detroit, Michigan
No. 4 – Tucson, Arizona
No. 5 – Kansas City, Missouri
No. 6 – Dallas, Texas
No. 7 – Louisville, Kentucky
No. 8 – Phoenix, Arizona
No. 9 – Fort Worth, Texas
No. 10 – Tampa, Florida

The study calculated five-year averages using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool for the years 2017-2021, and U.S. Census Bureau city population data from 2022.

The report and its methodology can be found on forbes.com.

driving texas reports forbes fort worth

Death Penalty

Tarrant County man gets death for murder of convenience store owner

Tarrant County Sheriff's Office

Christopher Turner

A man received the death penalty for his 2020 cold-blooded execution of a convenience store owner.

According to a release from the office of Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Christopher Karon Turner, 48, to death on November 20 for executing convenience store owner Anwar Ali during a robbery. Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Charles Boulware and Allenna Bangs represented the state.

On March 27, 2020, at around 6:15 am, Turner, a convicted felon, wore a surgical mask and a glove and entered the Super Big Country Mart in an unincorporated area of Tarrant County south of Fort Worth. There, he held a gun to the back of Anwar Ali, the 62-year-old store owner, and walked him through the store.

Ali did everything Turner demanded, including opening the cash register to give him money. And yet Turner forced Ali into the bathroom and onto his knees, and shot him in the neck. Ali was discovered, dead in the bathroom, about an hour later.

Turner fled the store in Ali's Toyota minivan with the money from the register and Ali's wallet. In the van, he found more than $50,000 cash in a black bag. Over the next few days, Turner went on a shopping spree, buying cars, jewelry, drugs, clothes, and more. He and others used cash and a credit card that belonged to Ali.

Turner fled to Colorado where U.S. Marshals arrested him. On his body they found a firearm which was determined to be the murder weapon.

"This was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder," Boulware told the jury. "From the moment he was charged with this crime, he has tried to escape responsibility."

Bangs noted that before this trial began, Turner obtained the names of jurors and their telephone numbers, and gave them to an inmate charged with murder. At the trial on November 20, as Bangs addressed the jury, Turner tried to hold up a sign to the jury but was handcuffed by Sheriff's deputies who removed him from the courtroom, while he yelled out "she lied."

Ali came to the United States from Pakistan decades ago to pursue the American dream. Ali's son, Hussein, spoke in the courtroom after the death penalty was announced. "Thank you for giving us justice," Ali said. "I hope there are no more devils like this person."