A 21-year-old woman was killed in a hit-and-run accident on I-20 in Arlington on Sunday in the early morning, according to the Arlington Police Department.
The victim, 21-year-old Areauna Laws, was found unresponsive and declared dead at the scene, police said, per Fox 4 KDFW.
Police suspect Laws was parked on the shoulder of the freeway and standing outside due to car troubles when a pick-up truck crashed into her.
According to witnesses, the pick-up truck driver was “erratically” driving on the freeway before the incident occurred and also crossed over the median onto the I-20 frontage road.
The suspect’s truck was abandoned by a nearby parking lot, but no arrests have been made as police are actively working to identify the suspect, Arlington police said, according to WFAA.
The DFW area is reportedly known for its careless drivers, with a Forbes study putting Dallas and Fort Worth high on its list of cities with the worst drivers.
For its part, Dallas has become synonymous with dangerous driving. The city regularly appears in national rankings for all the wrong reasons. Notably, of the 196 fatal collisions recorded in Dallas in 2023 by the Texas Department of Transportation, 64 reportedly involved alcohol.
The Dallas Police Department only has around 3,000 officers on duty despite a City report advising a force of 4,000 is needed to ensure public safety. Compared to other high-crime jurisdictions, DPD has a much smaller budget, with just $654 million allocated by the Dallas City Council this fiscal year.