The following information was all gained from an article published in this week’s issue of The Houston Chronicle, titled “Turn Toward Safety.” 

 Monday, June 10, was proclaimed Lesha Adams Day in Houston, by Mayor Sylvester Turner, in honor of her selfless activity within the community. Sadly, Lesha Adams was killed on March 30 in the Heights area of Houston. “ Adams had been driving home with her daughters when she saw a man in a wheelchair trying to cross the street and she stopped to help. Both she and the man, Jesús Pérez, were struck and killed by a passing car” the article states. 

The incident ignited a reaction from the city of Houston. Mayor Turner pledged to join the Vision Zero Initiative, “a program that seeks to end traffic fatalities and injuries on the nation’s streets by 2030. This kind of action has been needed for a long time throughout the entire state of Texas, which ranks as number one in the nation for traffic fatalities, according to a Chronicle analysis. Texas is long overdue for changes to how it approaches mass transportation, and the safer steps are finally being taken. 

Recently, “the Texas Transportation Commission directed the Texas Department of Transportation to develop strategies to cut the almost 4,000 annual deaths on the state’s roads by half in 15 years and to zero by 2050.” To make this happen, roads will have to be redesigned, safety will have to be prioritized and efforts to eliminate distracted driving and speeding will have to be put into effect. 

The responsibility falls on us as citizens as well as the state. As stated by the Chronicle, “drivers need to wake up to the fact that we’ve grown numb to the amount of carnage on our streets and take some responsibility.” We can all make a difference and join in on this movement for safer roads. It starts with slowing down, following the traffic laws, using turn signals and putting our mobile devices away when we drive.