HOUSTON—State Senator Rodney Ellis is pushing for a new bill that would keep drunk drivers from even starting their cars.

That’s good news for the family of a local girl who was killed by a suspected drunk driver as she got off her schools bus just three months ago.

Nicole Lalime died on Dec. 16 in northwest Harris County, just steps from her house.

She had just stepped off the bus when deputies say John Jacob Winne ran a stop sign, hit the bus and plowed into Nicole.

“Every time I see a school bus. Every time I see an ambulance. It brings tears to my eyes, because it just is a reminder that she’s not with us anymore,” Nicole’s mother, Valoree Lalime, said.

As it turns out, Winne had a previous DWI conviction.

That’s just the kind of offender Ellis is hoping to keep off the road.

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Nicole Lalime

“There’s some studies that show that the average person has been drunk 89 times and driving before they get caught,” Ellis said.

He says if State Senate Bill 170 had been law at the time, Winne might never have been behind the wheel.

“I don’t want to see another funeral. I don’t want to see another news account about someone who killed some young child or struck somebody’s loved one because they were driving and drunk,” Ellis said.

The bill would require anyone convicted of a DWI offense to put an ignition interlock device on their car.

The device is installed on the dashboard and works like a breathalyzer.

If the driver exhales a high blood alcohol content, the engine shuts off.

Meanwhile, families like the Lalimes are left only to work through their grief and hope for a change.

“If that can happen to a 13-year-old child, then all of us are at risk,” Valoree Lalime said.

“This city is out of control with people drinking and driving and just not having the consideration for other people out there,” Bill Lalime, Nicole’s father, said.

The Lalimes believe if the proposed law can save just a single life, it’s a worthwhile effort.