In Spite Of Rise in Distracted Driving Accidents, Dallas Police Fail to Act

Investigations have found that over a period of 2 years, Dallas police officers were involved in as many as 162 preventable accidents. In spite of this, the Dallas police has failed to implement policies that expressly prevent officers from typing while they’re driving.

An investigation by NBC 5 Investigates  found that over a period of 2 years, 13 preventable accidents involving the Dallas police and distracted driving, involved distractions inside the police car. At least 8 of those 13 accidents involved officers who were busy typing on computers at the time of the accident.

Proof of some of those accidents exists in videos from the police department that were attained by the station. The videos clearly show vehicles being driven by distracted police officers, going off roadways. In one video, a distracted police officer causes a rear-ender accident involving another vehicle at a stop light.

In June, Dallas police commander Deputy Chief Rick Watson claimed that his department was considering reviewing its policy of using the computer while at the wheel. However, it does not appear to Texas car accident lawyers that the police department will act on those reviews anytime soon. This is in spite of the fact that several other police departments in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have implemented changes to policies related to the use of computers and cell phones while driving.

For instance, in Fort Worth, the police now have strict rules that prevent officers from typing while the car is in motion. In Arlington, police also have a policy that permits the driver of the vehicle to use the dashboard computer only minimally.