Photo by Kelley Hurst.
It seemed like a regular Monday afternoon. Students at Moss Haven and Skyview were just letting out for the school day, and kids at Forest Meadow had 30 minutes before the final bell. That’s when a black McClaren sports car, so new it still had paper license plates, came barreling south down Abrams Road through the school zone toward Royal Lane. As it reached the cross-street at Loma Vista, the McClaren crashed into another car, careened into a tree and broke in half. Driver Cristobal Flores Espino, 29, and passenger Robert Rocha, 31, were killed. The female driver of the other vehicle was hospitalized.
The sound of the crash sent neighbors running out into their yards, and news of the deaths brought folks with flowers and candles to the scene. But few were truly surprised. Neighbors, particularly those living up and down roads like Abrams, Skillman, Walnut Hill and Audelia, have been complaining for a while about speeding cars and racing drivers putting their families at risk.
Now, Skyview mom Megan DuBose hopes to do something about dangerous drivers on Lake Highlands streets. She started a petition to demand increased enforcement in the LH zip codes of 75243, 75231 and 75238. She says she wants officials on the Dallas City Council and the Dallas PD to take reckless driving as seriously as she and her neighbors do.
More than 500 people have already signed.
“At 3:10 PM on December 9, 2024, a fatal crash signaled a nightmare we had feared for a long time in Lake Highlands schools’ zones,” she wrote. “With Moss Haven and Skyview Elementary Schools (each less than half a mile from the crash site) just releasing their young students, the catastrophe could have been much worse. Forest Meadow Middle School’s crosswalks are one-tenth of a mile away (roughly 530 feet) from the fatal crash site; but fortunately, school had not yet been released. As a mother of two Skyview Elementary students, with friends whose children attend several local RISD schools in the area, I have lost sleep about the ‘what ifs’ related to this wreck and several other serious and fatal wrecks in our area. I know I am not alone.
“This stark incident puts a spotlight on years of increasing reckless driving* (link to statistics provided) around our schools and neighborhoods in Lake Highlands (ZIP: 75243, 75231, and 75238). Our children’s safety is paramount and unfortunately, due to the number of wrecks occurring near (and sometimes in) our yards, there is legitimate danger for children not only walking to and from school, but also for those being driven by parents and caregivers.”
DuBose and signers of the petition want the City of Dallas to conduct a comprehensive traffic study, increase police presence and engagement, install traffic-calming measures and raise public awareness.
“Too many of us have stories of drivers running red lights at excessive speeds while a DPD officer is nearby. There have to be systemic reasons why this occurs at the regularity it does,” she says. “Our community remains deeply committed to ensuring the safety of its residents, particularly our children. Immediate action is necessary to prevent further tragedies and enhance safety in Lake Highlands.”
DuBose says she has never organized a petition drive before. For the last couple of years, though, she’s noticed driving in our neighborhood has become increasingly dangerous. Just days before the McLaren wreck, there was a five-car smashup outside her front yard. Her family has had close calls while driving and walking.
“The excessive rate of speed, red light running, ignoring school zones and distracted driving are genuinely terrifying to me and other families in the area,” she says. “I have witnessed personally or heard countless stories of these things happening.”
Kathy Stewart represents District 10 on the Dallas City Council, and she, too, is concerned about dangerous driving on city streets.
“I welcome your feedback, suggestions and signatures on the petition. Monday’s accident on Abrams is deeply upsetting. Early Tuesday morning, I reached out to Interim Police Chief Igo and have been assured we will have officers working on speed enforcement on Abrams. But, we all know speeding is a much broader problem. We see it on Skillman as well as our other north/south corridors. I have some plans in place, but we clearly need to continue to find ways to slow the traffic in every part of our neighborhood.”
If you’d like to sign the petition, you may find it here.
