Baird family stands tall in Texas House, advocates for bill to prevent drunk driving

AUSTIN, Texas — Aspen Blessing’s family stood tall at the Texas House Tuesday in honor of the 18-year-old girl who was killed by a drunk driver on March 10, 2024, when she was driving on I-20 from Baird to Abilene. Her mother said the drunk driver hit her head on and she was instantly killed.

District 71 state Rep. Stan Lambert delivered a memorial resolution for Aspen, which the Blessings family hopes spur future change in their fight against drunk driving.

“We are also hoping that it just brings awareness to some of the issues around drunk driving. And just as we say, as a family, the ripple effects it can have of a tragedy like that on a family,” Drew Blessing, Aspen’s father said.

Aspen’s story had an effect on Senator Charles Perry of Lubbock, who told EverythingLubbock.com that he’s helping to move a bill forward in the Senate that would move bring your own beer (BYOB) establishments into the TABC regulatory framework.

“That brings in the liability shield for the responsible party being the venue to be mindful of not letting people over-consume and then go out and commit these problems,” Perry said.

Perry said he’s hoping for a matching piece of legislation to be introduced in the Texas House by Friday, which is the deadline for legislators to file new bills.

“I’m going to do whatever I can to make their message mean as much as it can to that as a family, but it will save lives,” Perry said.

A year and one day after Aspen was killed by a drunk driver, her family stood tall in the seats of the Texas House, hoping their story will continue to create change and stop more drunk driving tragedies from occurring.

“It’s a mix of emotion. A lot of it’s still hurt, but a lot of it is seeing all the good coming out of it and so that’s made a big difference,” Drew Blessing, Aspen’s father said.