AASHTO Journal - Family, TxDOT Launch Responsible Driving Campaign

A Texas family who lost their daughter to a head-on collision with a drunk driver is working with the Texas Department of Transportation to emphasize the importance of making responsible driving decisions.

[Above photo by TxDOT]

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” — the right 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.

In a similar vein, two former law enforcement officers recently joined TxDOT’s ranks as safety specialists to work on preventing crashes before they happen.

Gregory Hunter, a former officer with the City of Garland’s Police Department, and his colleague Bernadine Moore, who served with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Highway Patrol, recently joined TxDOT’s Traffic Safety Section.

The Traffic Safety Section, specifically the Behavioral Traffic Safety Division, manages a wide range of programs designed to enhance road safety across Texas. These include overseeing grants, community outreach and participating in statewide campaigns.

Those grants support a wide variety of safety efforts, ranging from the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program – which reimburses local law enforcement for overtime activities aimed at reducing crashes – 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 noted that each project those grants support – whether it focused on impaired driving, occupant protection, or pedestrian safety – is a step toward making Texas roads safer for everyone.

“We are very proud of all the grants the state has entrusted under our supervision,” he said in a statement.