SXSW is the owner and operator of an international music festival that mixes hundreds of thousands of pedestrians and cyclists with alcohol and cars, all in close proximity late at night in the city’s downtown district. On March 13, 2014, the popular event quickly turned tragic when an errant vehicle plowed through a crowd of people, killing four and seriously injuring more than 20.

We are absolutely devastated by the senseless loss of life and injury that was caused due to SXSW’s failure to put appropriate traffic control measures in place to securely separate moving vehicles crisscrossing the area from festival goers congregating at their official venues. Federal, state and City of Austin regulations called for blocking streets off with rigid barriers, but SXSW used inadequate “Street Closed” signs instead of more substantial rigid barriers and an errant vehicle was able to go right past them.

The tragic truth is that if SXSW had applied basic, common sense traffic control measures and met minimum industry standards governing street closures for festivals, SXSW would have prevented this tragedy. The 2015 SXSW Festival starts on March 13, 2015 – the one-year anniversary of the tragedy that forever changed our lives. We are gravely concerned that SXSW is not doing enough to prevent another tragedy this year. We cannot allow this to happen ever again. We’re demanding that SXSW get this right by adopting common sense public safety measures that will prevent more terrible tragedies like this one.

SXSW is privately owned and generates tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually. The least expensive ticket for the 2015 SXSW is $525 (an early-bird rate no longer available). The cost of a rigid barrier is on average about $300. SXSW’s failure to make a minor investment in the rigid barriers that would have prevented this tragedy has cost many of us our livelihood and others have faced the worst consequences of all – the loss of precious lives that are irreplaceable.

Collectively, we have lost those we love most in our lives and suffered physical and emotional trauma that will be with us forever because of the preventable SXSW Tragedy. We never want another person or family to know the pain and suffering we have experienced due to a preventable tragedy that caused us to lose so much.

We are calling on SXSW to take action in memory of our loved ones lost in the tragedy:

Steven Craenmehr, 35, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

De'Andre Tatum, 18, Ft. Worth, TX, USA

Jamie West, 27, Austin, TX, USA

We need your support to prevent another SXSW Tragedy. Please help us call for change by signing this petition that urges SXSW to make public safety a priority.

PROTECT LIVES & SIGN OUR PETITION. Thank you.

The Family of Steven Craenmehr: Lizzy Plug & Mick Craenmehr, Lidy Smit, Sjoerd and Gijs Craenmehr

Curtisha Davis

Erica Hall

Gracie Nguyen

Patrick Sanchez

The Family of De’Andre Tatum: Tamara and Derrick O’Neal

Evan West