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DPS crash team: 85 —move over— incidents since 2017 underscore roadside danger for troopers
Summary
At a Public Safety Commission meeting, the Texas Highway Patrol crash team presented data showing 85 slowdown/move-over crashes involving DPS personnel since November 2017, citing 2 deaths, 7 serious injuries and driver behavior as the leading cause despite vehicle and equipment upgrades.
Captain Shelly Lee, captain of the state crash team, told the Public Safety Commission that since November 2017 the department has recorded 85 crashes tied to violations of slowdown and move-over laws involving DPS personnel. "Since November 2017, there have been 85 crashes involving a violation of the slowdown and move over law," she said, adding that the incidents resulted in two employee deaths, seven serious injuries and 10 non-incapacitating injuries.
Lee summarized the agency's response: after lab and live crash testing showed sedans offered inadequate protection, the department transitioned to a higher-profile SUV fleet, added new lighting controllers and adopted other equipment and tactic changes to improve survivability. She said the agency's 2018 live rear-end testing was a turning point and that the current fleet mix and equipment reduce intrusion and impact severity.
But Lee emphasized that equipment changes cannot eliminate the underlying driver-behavior problem. She told commissioners that nearly 40% of the recorded crashes involved a failure to control vehicle speed, and about a quarter involved intoxicated drivers; unsafe speed for conditions and distraction accounted for most of the remainder. "This analysis ... ties in visibility and driver intention issues," she said, noting a higher incidence at night.
Commissioners pressed for more detail about distraction categories and mitigation. Lee responded that reported distractions include eating, applying makeup, looking at a phone and attending to children, and that underreporting remains possible. Colonel Martin and other leaders reiterated that legislative funding had been critical to procuring safer vehicles and ballistic windshields and said the department will continue targeting dangerous driver behavior through enforcement, public messaging and technology.
The presentation closed with an offer to take questions and a request for continued commission support of the department's safety initiatives and equipment investments.
The commission did not take formal action on this presentation; the report was received for review and follow-up.
