Irving Police hope two new vehicles will make an impact in combatting aggressive driving that can lead to road rage violence.
North Texas freeway miles are numerous with lanes that are often crowded with drivers in a hurry, some of whom are armed.
The combination can lead to aggressive driving and, while less common, police are seeing the number of disputes between drivers with guns increase.
Officer Robert Reeves doesn’t know how much two new vehicles will cut into aggressive driving behavior but Irving Police are going to find out.
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“People are pointing guns at other individuals because they’re losing their patience, losing their temper,” Reeves said.
Irving Police on Monday debuted two Chevrolet Tahoes with a more muted paint job that will blend into traffic, especially at night. The vehicles are designed for patrolling and looking for aggressive driving in areas where Irving police say an increase in road rage incidents is occurring.
The vehicles were purchased before Irving police joined a multi-jurisdictional task force that includes departments in Grand Prairie, Mesquite, and Dallas aimed at combating aggressive driving.
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Dallas Police started tracking road rage incidents just last year. In the first 11 months of 2021, Dallas logged 528 road rage incidents, three ended in killings.
Detectives are still looking for whoever killed Chris Murzin along Interstate 20 last February. The 53-year-old left behind three kids and his wife, Christina, lost her partner for life.
He just really cared about his community, his country, his family,” Murzin told NBC 5. “He loved us deeply and we miss that.”
Statistics for the last two months were not immediately available but Dallas Police reported working three additional road rage killings in December alone.
Irving Police hope that deploying lower profile vehicles looking for aggressive driving can stop even one road rage incident, it is a worthwhile investment.
“We are having these not every day but we are having them very frequently,” Reeves said.
