AUSTIN (KXAN) — Gina Torry remembers the conversations around crosswalk safety.
It was right after her sister Lisa Torry Smith’s death in October 2017 near Houston.
“She was walking her 6-year-old son to school through a crosswalk right close to the school when she was struck and killed,” said Torry.
She added that her nephew was severely injured but survived. Officials tell KXAN investigators the driver that hit and killed Smith was not charged.
Torry explained that her family knew something had to change. They appealed to lawmakers and pushed for a crosswalk safety law.
“Every single person that we spoke to whether they were a Democrat or Republican or Independent, everybody has crossed the street at some point in their life,” said Torry. “And everyone, no matter which party they were affiliated with, was shocked, frankly, to hear that under Texas law, it wasn’t a crime to kill someone or injure someone in a crosswalk.”