Lisa Torry Smith Act: Justice for Pedestrians in Crosswalk Fatalities

The Tragedy of Lisa Torry Smith

• 💔 In 2017, Lisa Torry Smith was killed in a Fort Bend County crosswalk while walking her nephew to school.
• 🚗 The driver who hit her was never charged with a serious offense, receiving only a traffic citation, leaving her family without justice.
• 🤕 Her nephew survived the incident, but witnessed his aunt's death.

The Lisa Torry Smith Act

• ⚖️ The Lisa Torry Smith Act was drafted to provide a clearer legal framework for prosecuting drivers who hit pedestrians in crosswalks.
• ✅ Signed into law in 2021, the act makes it a crime to cause bodily injury, including death, by hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
• 📈 In Fort Bend County, this act has led to charges in crosswalk fatality cases, with potential penalties ranging from 6 months to 2 years in state jail and a $10,000 fine for serious bodily injury or death.

Justice in Harris County

• ❓ Families in Harris County feel justice is still out of reach, with DA Sean Teare facing criticism for not frequently using the Lisa Torry Smith Act.
• 🗣️ Teare explains his office prefers to use existing statutes like criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter for fatality cases, citing established case law and jury charges.
• ⚠️ While the Harris County DA's office uses the Lisa Torry Smith Act for non-fatal incidents, they do not currently track whether crimes occurred in crosswalks, making it difficult to assess the act's application.