Last month was a very bad one for Houston freeways.

According to Houston TranStar, the number of “incidents” reported on area freeways reached a record high of 2,101. Incidents include anything from accidents to stalled vehicles, high water that closes a road or lane of the freeway or freight that has fallen onto the road. Accidents and stalls are usually about evenly split, and make up the vast majority, 90 percent or so, of incidents each month.

We didn’t just beat the previous record of 1,579 set in May, we crushed it. Sure, compared to 2009 or 2010 it’s easy to conclude we have more traffic because more people live in the region and the economy is booming. That’s a harder argument to make when looking at details for the past 12 months.

Lately, because of some high-profile incidents, a lot of attention has focused on heavy trucks. These are the accidents most likely to clog the freeway for hours because of the severity of the wrecks, the potential damage to the road that must be inspected and the cleanup of anything that spilled or lost cargo. However, of the 1,008 accidents reported in September, just 68 involved heavy trucks.

Here are some other things to keep in mind, based on TranStar’s data:

Toll roads rule: Broken into its north, south, east and west segments, the Sam Houston Tollway accounts for four of the top eight sections of freeway for number of incidents. The four segments were the site of 31.5 percent of all incidents so far in 2014. Others at the top are Interstate 45 north and south of the central business district and U.S. 59 southwest of the central business district. Even with all its construction and traffic, U.S. 290 has less than one-third the number of incidents as the western leg of the Sam Houston Tollway.

Clearance times are flat: The traffic might be worse, but based on when TranStar advises of an incident and when the lane or lanes are reopened, the average time it takes to clear incidents is fairly flat. Major incidents can take hours to clean up and often skew the monthly averages, but when all the figures are crunched it usually takes 30-35 minutes to clear an incident. That has not changed, and in some spots has improved, since 2009.

Knowledge is power: Houston has an enormous amount of traffic data available for drivers, if they avail themselves of it, according to Dinah Massie, spokeswoman for TranStar. The agency — a collaboration between Houston, Harris County, the Texas Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transit Authority — distributes real-time data to online media, television and radio stations. People can even set up alerts if there is an accident along their route, or updated travel times for their exact route via the website.

Why do you think incidents along Houston freeways are increasing? (PIck up to two) More traffic, more problems

Distracted driving

Speeding

People don't know how to merge

Too many trucks

Poor road quality, unsafe conditions

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