DALLAS — Dallas City Council has authorized more than $1 million in payouts for legal judgements and settlements following wrecks involving city workers driving city vehicles so far this year.
The amount authorized this year is more than the city authorized in all of 2023 and on track to top the $1.7 million paid out in 2022, a WFAA analysis of city council documents revealed.
The 2024 payouts were for wrecks that occurred in previous years -- and included allegations city employees were distracted, speeding, running red lights and rear-ending other vehicles while behind the wheel. The city has not admitted fault in all the incidents.
Information provided to City Council on Friday suggested the number of preventable incidents, including wrecks, has declined an average of 14.5% since 2019. In fiscal year 2023, the city had 709 preventable incidents.
"This year in 2024, we’re on course to exceed that number," said city councilmember Paul Ridley. "So the problem is growing."
Ridley said a particularly large number of payouts on last week's city council agenda caught his attention.
"The city is self-insured, so all of this money comes out of the general fund -- which is funded by taxpayer dollars," he said.
"What concerns me the most is that we're causing accidents that are injuring members of the general public," Ridley continued.
A city spokesperson said the city is always looking for ways to stop preventable accidents involving its more than 5,000 city-owned vehicles.
The spokesperson said the city offers additional defensive driving courses for department safety representatives and is discussing whether to require remedial training for drivers involved in incidents on the road. The city has also installed dashboard cameras in city sanitation vehicles to identify unsafe driving, the spokesperson said.
"There’s a procedure in place, but it obviously is not preventing these accidents," Ridley said.
Ridley wants the city to institute remedial driver training for anyone involved in a crash and increase the penalties for city employees who cause a wreck.
Currently the city's corrective actions following a crash range from verbal counseling to 10-day suspensions, the city said.
"Departments reserve the right to remove a drive from driving status for a fixed period of time when a driver has been involved in a preventable incident," the city CFO wrote in a memo to councilmembers.
The payouts are set to continue; next week's city council meeting includes a vote on authorizing $165,000 in payouts for wrecks involving city workers.