Nationwide, drunk driving is on the decline– but you wouldn't know it living in Austin. This spring, the city has seen several high-profile deaths attributable to drunk driving.
This weekend, Kelly Noel – a well-known music fan who ran the popular ATXHispsters Twitter account– was killed by a drunk driver downtown. (The account continues to auto-tweet the latest stories from Austin news outlets, including KUT.) And in March, Rashad Owens allegedly killed and injured South by Southwest attendees when he accelerated into SXSW crowds while trying to evade police.
The morning after the SXSW killings, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said “tragedy brings opportunity. It’s an opportunity for a gut check … it's a gut check for the people involved, it’s a gut check for this community.”
