NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A street racing task force could soon be formed in Tennessee in honor of Jake Barnhardt, 34, who died in a March 2023 crash involving a suspected street racer.

Barnhardt, a 15-year veteran of Army Special Forces, was driving on Clarksville Pike in Nashville on his way to pick up his children when Metro Police said Patrick Ewin, 31, lost control and struck Barnhardt at higher speeds. at 100mph. Ewin was reportedly charged with reckless vehicular manslaughter in connection with the crash.

The Clarksville man’s life partner, Katie Kastle, told WATE sister station WKRN that when Barnhardt never showed up to pick up the children, she knew something was wrong. After calling several hospitals and contacting Vanderbilt, she learned that she had died. Kastle discovered the details the next morning in a newspaper article.

“Knowing that not only was it gone, but it was gone at the hands of someone’s selfish decision to run in the street in traffic, the first response was anger and then complete disbelief,” Kastle said. “From the beginning I knew we had to do something with this. Jake was our protector, he always looked out for everyone and how do we save lives in Jake’s honor?

The “Jacob (Jake) T. Barnhardt Act” passed the Tennessee House and Senate and is now on Governor Bill Lee’s desk. The legislation would establish a 17-member street racing task force, made up of law enforcement officials and people representing mayors from six different cities, that would study and determine best practices to curb illegal street racing.

“A comprehensive statewide approach will be needed to address this issue,” said State Rep. Jason Powell (R-Nashville). “This not only affects their community, but it has become a statewide problem.”

Kastle said the goal of the bill is to stop illegal street racing while honoring Barnhardt’s life: “One of the hardest things when a tragedy like this happens is that you see the person who did it on every street.” news, and I didn’t want that. I wanted everyone to see Jake for who he was and know what a person Jake was to our family, how important he was to us, how special he was, so this is a way to keep his name alive. ”.

The governor needs to sign the bill or leave it on his desk for 10 days for it to become law.