Austin City Council Approves Hospital Bollard Ordinance

Howry, Breen & Herman, LLP Dec 19, 2024

Huge news for the people of Austin and Howry Breen & Herman, LLP: The Austin City Council has given final approval to a new city-wide ordinance that will require bollards or traffic security barriers to be installed at new hospital entrances.

The ordinance was first formed in response to the fatal St. David’s North Austin Medical Center crash in February, which ended the life of the driver and left an entire family, including two young children, seriously injured. Our attorneys from Howry Breen & Herman, LLP are representing the injured family and we have been adamant proponents of this ordinance since its origins. We appreciate the City Council’s decision to approve this ordinance, rather than send it back for further review in January. Attorney Sean Breen said in an interview after the ordinance was approved, “[Howry Breen & Herman, LLP is] very grateful that the City Council acted appropriately and quickly here. This is a great day for Austin.”

KXAN Investigates, the investigative journalist team of a local NBC affiliate station, played a significant role in making sure that the fatal accident got the attention that it needed from the Austin City Council by publishing an investigative series with several pieces. Members of our firm were interviewed by KXAN Investigates after we were hired by the injured to represent them, too.

“Absolutely this will save lives,” Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, who introduced the original ordinance back in July, said after it was approved. She also commented that KXAN’s “diligent investigative coverage” helped the ordinance gain enough momentum to reach its recent resolution.

Austin City Council Member Zo Qadri wanted to see the ordinance go even further in enforcing the use of bollards in front of medical centers and wondered if postponing a resolution would help perfect it. Ultimately, the decision was made to approve the ordinance and agree to revisit it later to see how it could be expanded.

For more information about this important safety ordinance and the path it took to reach final approval, you can click here to visit the latest article in the KXAN Investigates “Preventing Disaster” series. You can also visit the blog of Howry Breen & Herman, LLP, where we have several recent posts about how we are representing the family injured in the St. David’s North Austin Medical Center crash. Thank you.

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