Since my nephew’s incapacitating car crash in 2016, I’ve been working with a group of advocates to make our streets safer. The underlying theme is “Vision Zero,” or, having zero deaths and incapacitating injuries on our roads due to traffic crashes. I started the Central Texas chapter of Families for Safe Streets, and together with other organizations, we go ask for change from decision makers so other families don’t have to lose loved ones.
Yesterday, my friend Anna, who lost her son Alexei in 2016, told her family’s story to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) Transportation Policy Board, which makes decisions on CAMPO policy and decides how CAMPO funding is allocated for, well, transportation. I followed Anna and shared Ben’s story and asked for actual goals and stronger performance measures by which to judge progress on safety measures.
Doing this work is hard, but we feel that sharing our stories with these decision makers reminds them that every death is face and a family and helps them make better decisions that can help stop these deaths.
