Texas DPS troopers and local police across Tarrant County are stepping up speed enforcement through Sunday, August 2, under TxDOT's annual Operation Slowdown campaign.
The statewide enforcement push launched July 18. Troopers and officers are increasing their presence on highways, rural roads, and city streets, targeting drivers who exceed posted speed limits or travel too fast for conditions such as wet weather, heavy traffic, or work zones.
Beyond writing more tickets, TxDOT said law enforcement vehicles will spend extra time driving the roads to "remind motorists what a safe speed looks like."
The numbers behind the campaign
Speeding played a role in more than 150,000 crashes in Texas in 2025, killing 1,247 people and seriously injuring 5,652 others, according to TxDOT.
Tarrant County, home to Southlake, Colleyville, and Grapevine, recorded 194 traffic fatalities in 2025, according to TxDOT crash records data compiled by the Reyes Browne law firm.
Jeff Williford, a TxDOT spokesperson in East Texas, told KLTV on Saturday, July 19, that the July-through-August enforcement window is a deliberate choice.
Summer travel volume stays high, he said, and World Cup events and back-to-school trips are putting even more cars on the road.
A Fort Worth family's loss
TxDOT's campaign features the story of 19 year old Shaundi Smallwood, killed in a nighttime speeding crash on Interstate 20 in Fort Worth on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. Three other passengers suffered broken bones and third-degree burns.
"You just can't fill the hole in your heart when you lose a child," Stephenie Smallwood, Shaundi's mother, said in a TxDOT press release launching the campaign. "I'm participating in this speeding awareness campaign because I don't want another family to go through the pain that my family and I have endured."
What drivers should know
TxDOT's safety guidance for the enforcement period:
- Match speed to traffic, weather, and road conditions
- Increase following distance when roads are slick or traffic is heavy
- Watch for changing speed limits in work zones and school zones
- Fines double for speeding in active work zones and school zones
Heightened enforcement ends Sunday, August 2. Residents who witness dangerous driving can call local police non-emergency lines or dial 911 for immediate threats.
