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Rachel Feig holds up a photo of damage done to her home in Dallas, Texas, Friday, June 20, 2025.(Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor)<\/p>\nWhen Rachel Feig came back from a long-awaited trip to Patagonia in November 2023, she returned to a giant hole in the side of her house.<\/p>\n
The night before Thanksgiving, a drunken driver was speeding south on Abrams Road, according to a police report. The driver was traveling over 100 mph, well above the 35 mph speed limit, when he collided with a DART bench, became airborne and crashed into the side of Feig\u2019s Junius Heights home in northeast Dallas. <\/p>\n
Though Feig, 31, was out of town at the time of the crash, her dad drove up from Houston to check on the damage. Somebody put a tarp over the newly created hole next to her kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stayed on my trip because, in all honesty, I didn\u2019t have a place to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Breaking News<\/p>\n
Feig had been in contact with her council member\u2019s office for nearly a year, asking for traffic-slowing measures to be implemented on Abrams. So far, she\u2019s not received the help she hoped for.<\/p>\n
She was unable to return to her house for eight months, bouncing between a hotel room and two separate Airbnb rentals. The crash caused structural damage up to the second floor of her home, and she had to remodel the entire side of her house.<\/p>\n
The second time a car hit her house, in early June, Feig knew she had to do something. <\/p>\n
On June 8, another vehicle lost control while driving past her home. The vehicle\u2019s tire was dislodged and flew into the same spot as before. Though the second crash sustained far less damage, Feig said she was terrified. She was sitting on her couch when it happened, feet away from where the tire struck her house.<\/p>\n
After the second crash, Feig decided to take time off from her job as a physician\u2019s assistant at UT Southwestern to plead for help from the City Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not safe in my own home right now, and neither are my neighbors who walk on the city of Dallas sidewalks,\u201d she told the council.<\/p>\n
Rachel Feig holds up a photo of damage done to her home in Dallas, Texas, Friday, June 20, 2025.(Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor)<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to have to do all of this. I don\u2019t want to have to come [to City Hall] in the middle of my clinic day to beg for this,\u201d Feig later said in an interview. \u201cBut now I feel like I have to, because nobody\u2019s done anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since September 2024, Feig has been emailing back and forth with council member Paul Ridley\u2019s office, asking for a traffic light at the intersection near her home. She and her neighbors have encountered delays getting approval from the transportation department for any traffic-slowing measures. A traffic study was conducted on Dec. 30, Feig said, but she\u2019s been unable to get a copy of it and argues the holiday timing is not indicative of normal traffic patterns. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am aware of the two serious incidents of reckless driving on Abrams Road that have resulted in crashes and damage to Ms. Feig\u2019s home. Since the first crash, my office submitted a request for a traffic study on Abrams and more recently a pedestrian study,\u201d Ridley said in a statement. The city did not immediately provide a copy of the study.<\/p>\n
Feig now has a meeting scheduled with the Dallas Police Department and Transportation and Public Works leadership on July 1 to discuss possible solutions. <\/p>\n
![\"Rachel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/OCFLCXMMEZCVRNAAUYDIXNFW3A.jpg\")
Rachel Feig watches traffic pass her home. Feig\u2019s neighborhood is surrounded by three schools, a public library branch and a retirement community.(Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor)<\/p>\n
In the meantime, she has been keeping a record of all incidents on the busy street by her house. A car downed a lamp post, taking out the bank of lights, in January. Another car drove into a \u201cschool zone ahead\u201d sign in March. Feig put in a 311 request for chronic traffic violations and said she\u2019s noticed an increase in police presence since then. But she\u2019s worried about pedestrians when police aren\u2019t watching.<\/p>\n
Feig\u2019s neighborhood is surrounded by three schools, a public library branch and a retirement community. Barbara Cohen, 61, one of Feig\u2019s neighbors, said speeding along Abrams is not a new issue. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to do something about this for years,\u201d Cohen told Feig after the crash.<\/p>\n
Cohen has lived in the neighborhood for over 30 years and remembers warning her kids to avoid playing anywhere close to the street. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a front porch community. People walk all the time around here. This is a very active neighborhood, so we use Abrams. We cross Abrams a lot,\u201d she said. Cohen has been helping Feig in her attempts to slow down traffic.<\/p>\n
Feig proposed a lower speed limit, speed bumps or a light, safer crosswalks or narrower lanes as potential traffic-slowing measures. She said she understands those changes take time, but is hoping for a solution soon.<\/p>\n