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TxDOT is set to host its Be Safe Drive Smart safety campaign through September 15. pictured is a pedestrian memorial.
As pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities continue to rise every year in the Lone Star State, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is hosting its “Be Safe. Drive Smart.” pedestrian and bicyclist safety campaign, which runs through Sept. 15 and urges all Texans to know and follow the state’s traffic laws for safe driving, walking and biking.
TxDOT reminds Texans of Senate Bill 1055, dubbed the “Lisa Torry Smith Act,” which is named after a Texas mother who was killed in a Missouri City crosswalk in October 2017 while she was walking her 6-year-old son to school. At the time of the crash that took Smith’s life, hitting a pedestrian, bicyclist or other vulnerable road user in a crosswalk held virtually no consequences for Texas drivers. After her death, the Texas 87th Legislature enacted the law, which went into effect on Sept. 1, 2021.
Senate Bill 1055 requires that drivers stop and yield the right of way to people in crosswalks. Texas motorists that fail to stop and yield and cause serious injury or death to someone in a crosswalk can face criminal penalties ranging from a fine, a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the severity of the injury.
In 2021, 841 people died in pedestrian-related traffic crashes, an increase of 15% from 2020. Crashes involving bicyclists claimed the lives of 92 people in 2021. These 933 deaths account for 20% of the 4,490 fatalities on Texas roadways last year.
“Year after year, we’re seeing fatalities from traffic crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists climb,” said TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams. “Each of us has a shared responsibility to help reverse this trend. Whether you’re behind the wheel, on foot or riding a bicycle, we’re asking all Texans to be safe and smart, and that starts with obeying traffic laws.”