A recent push in Arlington to crack down on road rage appears to be getting results.
Police there formed an aggressive driving task force following the June 25 murder of Dylan Spaid. The 19-year-old was shot after he reportedly got into a spat with another driver who cut him off.
Police say the goal of the task force is prevent future tragedies from happening.
For weeks now, they've performed targeted enforcement operations using both marked and unmarked vehicles, looking for drivers who are speeding, racing, tailgating, making unsafe lane changes, and driving along the shoulders — all things that can lead to more serious road rage incidents.
Between June 25 and Aug. 3, they've made seven arrests and issued 661 citations.
"We believe it does change that driving behavior for that motorist," said Lieutenant Chris Cook, spokesperson for the Arlington Police Department. "Not only that, every other motorist on the freeway sees that activity happening...so a lot of the passing motorists get the message that hey, it's pretty serious out here. They're not going to tolerate that aggressive behavior."
Cook said what's promising is that the number of new arrests and tickets is steadily declining each week.
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"So that tells us our message is getting out there," said Cook.
In addition to the increased patrols, Arlington Police recently launched a road rage hotline citizens can call to report aggressive drivers. That number is (817) 459-5389.
They stress it's not a replacement for 911 and if you find yourself in a dangerous situation because of an aggressive driver, you should still call 911 first.
The Arlington Police Traffic Unit will follow-up on calls made to the hotline and in some instances, send letters to the alleged aggressive drivers containing tips for how to be more calm on the roadways.
The hotline has been up and running for a week. Police say they've received about a dozen calls to it.
