BELLS, Texas (KTEN) — Bells residents have started a petition to reduce the speed limit on US 69, hoping to prevent another fatal accident.

Angela Woodson was killed and her three-month-old grandson was critically injured one week ago when their vehicle was rear-ended while stopped on the highway to make a turn onto Denison Street; the impact propelled their car into oncoming traffic.

The speed limit on that stretch of US 69 is 55 mph. 

"This is an issue that I have personally been trying to take care of for about a year now," Bells Mayor Joe Paul Smith said in a written statement. "TxDOT did studies on the roadways through our city that they are responsible for. The results of that study were given to us approximately one month ago, and they determined there was not a need to lower the speeds going through Bells."

More than 1,800 people have already signed an online petition on Change.org to lower the speed limit; the population of Bells was about 2,000 in the most recent census.