A 63-year-old woman using a wheelchair was killed Thursday night when a driver struck her while she was crossing South Collins Street near Border Street in Arlington, then kept driving south without stopping. Police are still searching for the vehicle and the person behind the wheel.
Officers were dispatched to the scene around 9:15 p.m. after a caller reported that a woman in a wheelchair had been hit by a car, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The woman suffered serious injuries and later died at a hospital, per the police release cited in that report. Investigators say the driver continued south on South Collins Street and did not stop to render aid, and they are now working to identify the vehicle involved.
Arlington police officials said state law requires drivers involved in a crash to stop, check whether anyone needs help, and provide reasonable aid, including calling 911 — obligations this driver did not meet, according to the same report. Anyone with information is asked to call the Arlington Police Department at 817-274-4444, or to reach Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County anonymously at 817-469-8477. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner is expected to publicly identify the woman who died.
A Corridor With a Troubled History
This is not the first fatal pedestrian crash on South Collins Street in recent weeks. Less than four weeks earlier, on September 21, a 79-year-old woman was fatally struck in the 1400 block of South Collins Street near Oram Street — but in that case, the driver immediately stopped and cooperated with Arlington police, according to WFAA. The contrast between a driver who rendered aid weeks ago and one who allegedly fled this time underscores the open question investigators now face in identifying the vehicle.
The broader Collins Street corridor has seen fatal hit-and-runs before. In July 2021, a driver struck and killed a 29-year-old pedestrian in the 2100 block of North Collins Street before fleeing southbound, according to CBS News. And in April 2023, a 66-year-old woman using a motorized wheelchair was killed while crossing at Green Oaks Boulevard and New York Avenue, as reported by FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, pointing to a recurring vulnerability for mobility device users navigating Arlington streets.
City Safety Push Amid a Mixed Record
Arlington has been working to reverse these trends. In December 2024, the City of Arlington approved the Safe Streets Arlington Comprehensive Action Plan, which KERA described as having around 40 action items, including road redesigns and new technology.
Citywide numbers suggest some progress: Arlington recorded 29 traffic fatalities through late November 2025, down from 37 in 2024 and 52 in 2023, a decline that followed a 25% increase in police traffic stops and a 31% increase in citations, per KERA. Regionally, fatal traffic collisions across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex fell nearly 14% between 2023 and 2025, dropping from 804 to 691, according to data published by the North Central Texas Council of Governments in April 2026.
Yet pedestrians remain disproportionately at risk. Texas Department of Transportation figures for 2024 show pedestrians were involved in 6,095 crashes statewide, resulting in 772 deaths and 1,455 serious injuries — nearly 19% of all state traffic deaths despite making up only about 1% of total crashes. Nationally, drivers struck and killed 7,148 pedestrians in 2024, a 4.3% decline from the prior year but still roughly 20% higher than the pedestrian death toll in 2016, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
What Comes Next for the Driver Responsible
If identified, the driver could face serious criminal exposure. Under Texas Transportation Code § 550.021, leaving the scene of a crash that results in death is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to Justia Law.
For now, the identity of the woman killed Thursday night has not been released, pending the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's formal identification process. Arlington police continue to ask anyone with information about the vehicle or the driver to come forward, whether directly to the department or through Crime Stoppers.
