IRVING, Texas — After several deaths across North Texas due to road rage and aggressive drivers, Irving police announced additions to their aggressive driving unit.
The police debuted two new vehicles that will specifically focus on aggressive drivers.
“Over the last several years in North Texas we’ve seen persons who are aggressive driving increase rapidly,” Irving officer Robert Reeves said. “They obviously look a little bit different than our marked patrol squad cars and the purpose behind that is so they can blend in to the highway traffic.”
In 2021, Irving had 21 fatal crashes in the city, up from 13 in 2020.
“We haven’t had a death related to road rage in our city, most of our deaths are related to DWI accidents, but this type of behavior is only increasing,” Reeves said. “We’re going to be looking for persons who are driving extremely fast, swerving in and out of traffic, trying to possibly break check somebody, driving very closely to their rear bumpers.”
Reeves said potential punishment may be severe.
“Persons in our community should know that if you get pulled over for being one of these suspected aggressive drivers your car may be looking at getting towed to the pound,” he said. “You might be looking at going to jail for a Class C offense that you might have gotten a ticket for, and you’re going to be getting probably more than one or two tickets.”
The announcement from Irving comes just days after a 29-year-old woman in Dallas was charged with intoxication manslaughter after a hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian.
It’s also happening at a time Euless police are investigating a hit-and-run that left a young person in critical condition.
Irving police will be looking for all forms of aggressive drivers -- from hit-and-run crashes to road rage.
“You need to just have that little extra bit of patience, maybe leave a little bit earlier, plan ahead,” Reeves said. “We’ve all seen someone lose their patience and become hostile on the roadway and that puts everybody at risk.”