Houston-area's top enforcement aim to curb rising deaths among walkers and cyclists

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Our region's top law enforcement agencies are joining together, hoping to save the lives of people walking and cycling in our communities. They're stepping up law enforcement around crosswalks and reminding everyone how to stay safe.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzales said the number of auto-pedestrian deaths has increased year after year. In 2023, his investigators have already had to handle 60 pedestrian deaths.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg brought together law enforcement agencies locally and from across the state to remind people of the consequences of driver distractions like cell phones, speeding, and aggression. It's a tragic trend that they say affects everyone, from first responders to the families that have to live without their loved ones like Cody Eberhardt.

Eberhardt lost his mother, Keri Guillory, while she was training for the BP MS150 in 2017.

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"It's almost six years from the time of her death, and it gets harder, you know?" Eberhardt said. "As I sit here, and I think about my 3-year-old son (who) cannot see his grandmother and has to walk down the hall and look at her picture and blow her a kiss, and that never gets easier from a victim standpoint. And this goes for all victims."

Eberhardt also thinks about first responders and others who have to investigate these cases. Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erik Burse says that law enforcement officers see the same heartbreaking patterns.

"When we go to a crash scene, we ask what happened. 'I didn't see them.' 'What happened?' 'They came out of nowhere.' 'What happened?' 'I wasn't paying attention,'" Burse said. "We leave those scenes, and we're torn up inside. And if you think we're not, you don't truly know us because we leave saying that was preventable."

Law enforcement will also be reminding drivers that it can be a state jail felony to injure or kill someone who is in a crosswalk.

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