CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Three months ago, 27-year-old Austin Gonzalez was killed in a deadly crash at Ocean Drive and Rossiter Street when a vehicle failed to yield at a stop sign.
Austin's father Joe Gonzalez and his family are now making it their mission to put up signs along that road to spark awareness for drivers to keep an eye out for motorcyclists.
"The silhouette on that sign is my son," he said. "The message behind it is to just keep an eye look out."
Joe Gonzalez told 3NEWS that he wants to prevent other families from going through similar heartache.
"The biggest thing for us is we don't want anyone else to go through the anguish that my family has gone through," he said. "The loss of my son -- the heartache."
When Austin Gonzalez was killed, he was wearing a bracelet that read "GDP" -- which stands for Gerald Dylan Palmer -- a 20-year-old who also lost his life in a motorcycle accident.
Dylan's father Gerald said that the pain of losing a loved one is something that can't be expressed with words alone.
"You can't explain to someone what it's like losing a loved one, especially when it could have been prevented," he said.
Gerald created Biker Lives Matter in Honor of GDP, an organization that honors his son's memory. He said the signs that the Gonzalez family are putting up are beneficial.
"If we can get signs throughout the town and on different major roads -- Ocean Drive is kind of like Saratoga with all the wraparounds," he said. "And that's where a lot of people get complacent, you know, in those four-lane roads with the medians in the middle. People get complacent, they stop, they briefly stop. Then they proceed without looking twice. So I think it's a great idea to put signs up."
Joe Gonzalez told 3NEWS that the initiative helps to make sure that his son's memory is never forgotten.
"I don't want my son's death to be in vain, and the safety and awareness is prominent to get the message out," he said.
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