North Texas reported 29 road rage crashes in July

Road rage incidents in North Texas made up more than a quarter of the state’s total crashes in July. 

Tarrant and Dallas counties accounted for more than half of North Texas’ road rage crashes last month, according to data from the Texas Department of Transportation. 

The 16-county region — Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant and Wise — reported 29 road rage related collisions total for July. In Texas, 107 road rage crashes were reported.  

North Texas’ four largest and most populous counties — Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant — reported the most road rage incidents. Tarrant County recorded nine road rage incidents in July, the most in the region, followed by Dallas County with seven. Collin and Denton counties both reported three. 

No fatal crashes involving road rage occurred in North Texas; however, one suspected serious injury was reported in Tarrant County.  

“Regardless of how these incidents are categorized, aggressive driving is something we take seriously,” said Robert Hoy, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department’s public information officer. “Agencies across Tarrant County focus on visibility and targeted enforcement of reckless driving behaviors.”

Road rage can be listed as a contributing factor by the responding law enforcement agency but is not a formal legal category, and there is no standardized reporting for these incidents, Hoy said.

“For example, one officer may label an incident as road rage while another may label it with behavior already covered under other contributing factors,” Hoy said. 

As a result, numbers can vary depending on the agencies and responding officer’s classification of the incidents.

According to TxDOT data, five counties — Johnson, Kaufman, Palo Pinto, Parker and Somervell — reported no road rage incidents. Seven counties —  Ellis, Erath, Hood, Hunt, Navarro, Rockwall and Wise — reported at least one in July. 

Road rage related incidents made up less than one percent of the region’s total car accidents in July.