Did you know that there is an inter-agency task force dedicated to investigating road rage incidents?

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – North Texas police investigate hundreds of traffic accidents every month, including one on Monday on the Central Expressway in Dallas.

They said their numbers increased as the COVID lockdowns ended and they now have a multi-agency task force dedicated to keeping us all safe on the roads.

On a busy North Texas highway, car-to-car shots rang out during a lunch break. The man driving the Mazda on the Central Expressway and Midpark Road was taken to the hospital in a stable condition. The police are looking for the shooter. This is a scenario that plays out almost every day somewhere on our roads.

“I think there is just a lot of aggression on the roads. People drive recklessly,” said Major Mark Villarreal of the Dallas Police Department.

Dallas Police did not begin tracking road rage incidents until 2021, but according to TxDOT data analyzed by I-Team CBS 11, there were 3,598 car accidents in the DFW area from 2012 to 2022 in which road rage is listed as one of the factors. These crashes resulted in 1,213 injuries and 22 deaths. Over the past 10 years, DFW has seen a steady overall rise in road traffic accidents from 256 in 2012 to 303 in 2022 through the end of November.

From 2012 to 2022, there were 118 traffic accidents on the Central Expressway alone. But police said the Road Rage Task Force, set up a year ago, is starting to show results in the DFW.

“We are running a monthly operation, a large-scale operation,” Major Villarreal said. “We will be taking tough action in this area at certain times when we see statistically that these offenses, reckless driving and aggressive driving are occurring.”

This, he says, combined with public education, resulted in a drop in incidents and homicides in the Task Force’s first year. He said there are also ways that drivers can avoid becoming victims of road rage.

“Don’t follow an aggressive driver,” he said. “Just call 911 and we’ll get to you.”