Abilene police increase patrol in response to recent crashes

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – Recent accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists have prompted Abilene Police to take steps for prevention and increased patrols.

Abilene community sees increase in vehicle & pedestrian/cyclist accidents

Public concerns over the increase in collisions involving people on the street have some questioning their routine when walking out their front door. Andrew Mason, a Sergeant with the traffic division for APD, explained the statistics we are looking at compared to previous years.

“In 2023, we saw a dip in our fatality collisions. 2022 was an unprecedented year with 23 fatality collisions. 2023 had seven, and this year thus far, we’ve had four fatality collisions,” Mason said.

Mason outlined that if this rate continues, Abilene will be on pace to surpass the number of fatal incidents for the previous year. It’s a problem occurring all over the state of Texas. TxDOT records show that the state has not gone a single day without a traffic-related fatality since 2020, and with statistics like that, APD is urging drivers to take caution, especially when it comes to speed.

With several of these incidents being hit-and-runs, Mason outlined how many individuals driving these vehicles could have avoided harsher charges.

“The driver of the vehicle who fled the scene in some of these instances wasn’t even in violation for the collision itself, and so the violation then was the failure of the driver to stop and either render aid to the victim who was struck or provide that information to police,” Mason said. “In several of these instances, had drivers just stayed on scene, they probably would have had no charges. No citations… anything like that. It’s because they left the scene [and that’s why] some of them are facing second-degree felony charges.”

UPDATE: Driver accused of killing bicyclist in Abilene, fleeing the scene arrested

APD wants to remind pedestrians to be aware of their surroundings and that people walking along the street don’t always have the right of way. The safest place to cross the road to avoid accidents is at a crosswalk or an intersection with a signal. However, if you decide to cross at an unmarked junction, you run a significantly higher risk of being struck.

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