OKC Woman’s Petition Receives 1,500 Signatures To Improve Safety Along Highway 9

An Oklahoma City woman wants change after her sister was killed on Highway 9 near Norman last year.

Her family isn’t alone. Norman Police said a stretch of Highway 9 had 700 crashes between 2019 and 2023. People have already joined her pursuit of a safer highway. 

Brittany Murillo often finds her mind drifting and reaching back for memories of her sister. “She loved her children,” Murillo said. “We miss her dearly.”  

August 4, 2023 – still haunts her -- the day her sister Tiffany lost her life after another car turned into the other lane and hit her SUV. Murillo said she does the best she can to cope with the loss of her sister. “I don’t cry as much but sometimes – sometimes it hurts,” she said. 

News 9 met Murillo shortly after the crash last August. Since the accident, Murillo started a petition to improve safety along Highway 9.  “That prevents those fatal, powerful, head-on collisions,” Murillo said. 

A section of Highway 9 where Murillo’s sister was killed is about ten miles from OU’s campus. The road transitions from a divided highway to a single-lane highway and the speed limit is 65 miles per hour. Murillo said multiple families have contacted her with similar circumstances.  “I’ve heard hundreds of stories,” Murillo said. “It’s too common.” 

More than 1,500 people have signed Murillo’s petition so far. “We are not highway engineers,” Murillo said. “We are not the experts. but we are the experts in grief.” 

Murillo chooses to remember the good days.  “You had a bad day – you'd call [Tiffany],” Murillo said. “She was gonna make you laugh.” 

She is turning Tiffany’s memory into her legacy. “We feel like it’s our mission,” Murillo said. 

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said the department monitors this corridor closely for necessary improvements. Murillo said she plans to bring her concerns to the Norman city transportation meeting on March 28.