AUSTIN, Texas — For Kathy Sokolic, co-founder of Central Texas Families for Safe Streets, traffic safety is personal after her 9-year-old nephew, Ben Sears, was hit by a pickup driver in front of his home.
"He lived for five years in a very incapacitated state and then died, so it was kind of awful," Sokolic said. "You could crash into somebody, you could run somebody over, and your life will be forever changed. For us, it's been the loss of our nephew. He had a really bright future."
Austin-Travis County EMS Capt. Shannon Koesterer is noticing a recent rise in traffic deaths, with five fatalities since Friday night. The crashes ranged from a vehicle rescue off Jollyville Road to a double fatality off Pepper Tree Parkway and Stassney Lane. There were also fatalities involving pedestrians off Riverside Drive.
"It puts strain I think on our paramedics emotionally . This is the holiday season. These people are families. They have families. Medics have families. And over time, this can kind of really wear on them, especially this time of year," Koesterer said.
Adam Greenfield is the director of advocacy for Safe Streets Austin and would like to see our streets designed in a way that gets people to slow down.
"Those incidents are mainly happening on our arterial roadways, our wide roadways and our highways, and people are dying there because those facilities are designed in a way to communicate: Drive quickly, drive recklessly," Greenfield said.
Koesterer wants to emphasize the responsibility that we take every time we get behind the wheel.
"I think it kind of gets lost that this is a machine that is capable of hurting yourself and others. So drive like that. Drive very cautiously," Koesterer said.
It is a decision that Sokolic says could mean life or death.
"I can't tell you how broken my entire family was when Ben got hit. And it stays with you forever," Sokolic said.
Koesterer also says they have a partnership with TxDOT on the "Drive Sober. No Regrets" initiative to prevent accidents from going forward this holiday season.