Will SXSW Learn from Last Year’s Fatal Accident?

Many of our readers may remember the deadly car accident from last year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) event, which killed four pedestrians and injured at least 21 other people. The driver, Rashad Owens, had allegedly accelerated and plowed through a crowd of people while he was intoxicated. Additionally, he had been driving the wrong way on a one-way street.

Catastrophic events like this often create necessary changes to discourage or avert a repeat incident.

How is Austin Trying to Make SXSW Safer in 2015?

This traumatic event has caused the organizers of SXSW to figure out a way to prevent similar accidents in the future. Currently, three known changes are expected to be made. These include:

• More police officers. It is projected that 60 more police officers will be protecting the streets this year.
• Manned barricades.
• Reducing unofficial events by limiting the number of permits that are given out. This measure was probably made to make SXSW much more manageable to control in the event of a major accident.

All of these protective measures are expected to allow Austin police officers to prevent major accidents throughout this fun-filled week.

Our firm has had the honor of helping numerous Austinites that have been injured in car accidents and other personal injury incidents.

[Did You Know? In the past, people have been seriously injured at SXSW in brawls and in creative attempts to sneak into concerts.]

The Law Offices of Aaron Allison – Austin Personal Injury Attorney