A Texas family who lost their daughter to a head-on collision with a drunk driver is working with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to emphasize the importance of making responsible driving decisions with a new campaign.
Driving to meet up with friends on the morning of March 10, Aspen Blessing died when a 28-year-old man with a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit drove into the westbound lanes of I-20 in Callahan County and struck her vehicle head-on in a wrong-way crash.
“The hardest part is that Aspen did everything right,” said Jen Blessing, referring to her 18-year-old daughter, in a statement. “She was not speeding. She was wearing her seatbelt. She wasn’t distracted. One man’s bad choice cost Aspen, our family and his family everything.”
Just one month following the tragedy, Aspen’s family reached out to TxDOT Traffic Safety Specialist Jill Christie to use the wreckage of Aspen’s vehicle to raise awareness about decision-making and prevent other families from suffering a similar tragedy.
They agreed to partner with TxDOT to speak to audiences wherever the car is displayed to encourage responsible decisions when driving – part of TxDOT’s mission to “End the Streak” of deaths on Texas roadways.
By sharing Aspen’s story, the family hopes to encourage students and influence generations of drivers to make “one choice”. Their message for the community is clear: never drink and drive, avoid distractions and anything else that gets in the way of driving safely.
TxDOT’s Traffic Safety Section, specifically the Behavioral Traffic Safety Division, manages a wide range of programs designed to enhance road safety across the state.
The division manages a variety of safety efforts, ranging from the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program as well as other initiatives like the Click-it-or-Ticket and Operation Slowdown campaigns.
TxDOT said it typically issues 591 such grants every year and Hunter said that each project those grants support is a step toward making Texas roads safer for everyone.
Source: AASHTOJournal.org, KSAT News
