Roll of Honor
Richard Dale Cottle
Incident
Senior Trooper Richard Cottle was killed in an automobile collision when his cruiser slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer on I-35 just north of Waco during morning fog.
The semi had just been involved in a crash with another tractor-trailer and was blocking a travel lane when the collision occurred. Trooper Cottle, who was assigned to the Motor-vehicle Inspection Section, was on his way to Dallas to testify in a court case.
Trooper Cottle had served with the Texas Department of Public Safety for almost 30 years. He is survived by his wife and four children. One of his sons also served with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TX-68EBEE05- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
30 years. You could have gone home.
Senior Trooper Cottle gave the Texas Department of Public Safety 30 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the people of Texas. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Senior Trooper Cottle.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Senior Trooper Richard Dale Cottle is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TX, 653 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27% of this state's fallen. That is 4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas Highway Patrol, 56 of 95 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 58.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Dale Cottle's cause is highlighted.
How Richard Dale Cottle Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Dale Cottle is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
94 officers from Texas Department of Public Safety - Texas Highway Patrol are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
