Law enforcement leaders announced that Texas Highway Patrol troopers will now be permanently stationed in Tarrant County. The move comes as Tarrant County is expected to see a 14% increase in fatal accidents in 2025.
“It used to be a road that got me places, and now it’s a road that takes me back,” Daquirie Thanphirom said.
Along the busy and bending Boat Club Road in Fort Worth is a cross for Thanphirom’s little brother. It stands as a symbol of how fast things can take a turn for drivers.
“I’ll never get my mother’s scream out of my head. I’ll never get my father just looking completely blank, and hearing my two siblings cry,” Thanphirom said.
Thanphirom’s 21-year-old little brother, Solomon Sanchaz, a UTA sociology student, was killed in a head-on collision by a wrong-way driver in February. He’s one of the more than 150 people killed on Tarrant County roadways so far this year.
“It’s that 2% that we’re coming after because they cause havoc out there on the roadway, and we’re going to come and get them,” Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn said.
On Thursday, law enforcement leaders made the announcement that Texas Highway Patrol troopers would be permanently stationed in Tarrant County. The group of 10 troopers known as a “sergeant area” will focus on traffic hot spot areas across the county.
“For over two decades, troopers have not been permanently stationed in Tarrant County, but now they will be,” Jeremy Sherrod, DPS Regional Director for the North Texas Region, said.
The enforcement initiative will crack down on speeding, impaired, distracted and aggressive driving across Tarrant County.
The long-term goal is to decelerate the number of driving deaths. Thanphirom says the enforcement is a start and hopes the troopers will see what she sees happening on the road where her brother lost his life.
“See how fast people are driving, see how people are cutting each other off, and there’s nowhere to go if you’re going to be hit,” Thanphirom said.
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