Please donate to support the work of Citizens for Road Safety.

According to the United Nations, Road traffic accidents claim nearly 1.3 million lives each year, costing some countries up to three per cent of their annual GDP, and are the biggest killer of five to 29-year olds globally.

Every  seconds, the  loses a: child. mother. father. sister. brother. friend. neighbor. colleague. 

In the United States, the number of people struck while walking increased by an astonishing 45 percent from 2010-2019, with 2016 – 2019 being the deadliest for pedestrians in three decades, according to the 2021 Dangerous by Design report by Smart Growth America, using data from a national database of all fatal traffic crashes from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. In 2021, drivers struck and killed an estimated 7,485 pedestrians in the U.S. – the most pedestrian deaths in a single year in four decades and an average of 20 deaths every day, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).

---

On the morning of October 19, 2017, Lisa Torry Smith was walking her 6-year-old son to Jan Schiff Elementary School in Missouri City. As they walked through a clearly marked crosswalk, a vehicle sped through a left turn and struck them both. Lisa died from her injuries.

Lisa Torry Smith was only 37 years old at the time of her death. There was video showing what happened. The driver was charged with criminally negligent homicide, but a grand juriy declined to indict, due to gaps in Texas state law. Lisa’s family was devastated that an innocent life could be taken, and the person responsible would face no legal consequence. Thousands of Texas families have had that same terrible experience.

The Lisa Torry Smith Act is a bipartisan bill that became law in Texas in 2021. It passed unanimously in the Texas Senate. Lisa’s sister, Gina Torry, led a tireless campaign of advocacy for the bill’s passage.

Citizens for Road Safety was founded to help Lisa’s family secure this step forward for pedestrian safety, and to help other families seek and receive justice and to make communities across Texas safer, so people are free to walk, run, bike, go to school, gather, work, and play, without fear.

The Lisa Torry Smith Act makes it a crime to kill or injure a pedestrian, or other vulnerable road user, inside a crosswalk in Texas. Drivers can be charged with a felony and face jailtime.

Make your tax-deductible donation today to help make our communities safer for everyone.