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(KOSA) - On West Texas roads, thousands of people are driving to their destination.

Whether it be to work, the grocery store, to see a friend, or simply go home, little do they know that not all of them will make it there.

“It’s been really hard for me to get over everything, trying to forgive,” said Nallely Mendoza.

That is something Nallely Mendoza and her family know all too well.

June 12th, 2023, a night that changed their lives forever.

“I sit there and I try to tell myself, God’s gonna handle it, or even down here the law’s gonna handle it, or someone else will. Like, that’s just how life works,” said Mendoza.

Mendoza’s daughter Eliana Garcia was only six weeks old when her life was cut short.

Now, Mendoza and her one-year-old son, K.J., are left only with her memory.

Baby Eliana is now among the many lost to drunk driving each year.

The Texas Department of Transportation recently released a shocking report that showed that Odessa and Midland are ranked number 1 and 2 in Texas for the most drunk driving crashes with death or serious injuries per 10,000 people based on a three-year average.

Both Midland and Odessa Police are responding to this.

CBS7 spoke to Midland Police Officer Nathan Lann, an expert on DWIs, and Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke.

They give us a look at just how prevalent this problem is in the Permian Basin.

Friday and Saturday nights, we’re constantly, constantly making DWI arrests. When I was a patrolman years ago, we would think Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights were our big nights. Anymore, it’s any night of the week,” Gerke explained.

And in Midland, police are also catching drunk drivers on a regular basis, especially on weekends, according to Lann.

The TxDOT report was based on data from 2020 to 2022.

It shows that the City of Odessa saw 12 DWI crash-related fatalities in 2020, 11 in 2021, and 6 in 2022.

As for DWI crashes, the numbers peaked in 2021 before pointing down in 2022 with 157 crashes, showing slight improvement.

However, second place Midland is showing a concerning trend.

Not only are DWI-related crashes showing a spike last year with 196 crashes, but fatalities nearly tripled from 2021 to 2022.

However, MPD says this year may tell a different story.

“We have a lot more work to do toward this, but I think we’re making good ground. The 2023 stats that just came out here from Midland, the trend is going down,” said Officer Lann.

Even with a glimmer of hope for improvement, police are putting many drunk drivers behind bars.

“You know, I can tell you this year, from the beginning of the year to the 8th of November, we’ve run the numbers, we’ve filed well over 500 DWI cases. So, the officers of the Odessa Police Department are out there on the street filing these cases,” said Chief Gerke.

But arrests can only help so much, Eliana Garcia’s family, currently in the process of seeking justice, pleads with their community.

“Don’t put my family at risk no more. We’ve paid enough. Don’t take these two from me.

Don’t. Don’t put my grandson at risk because you want to go home. Think about everybody but yourself when it comes to drinking and driving,” said Robert Pasquale, Grandfather of Eliana.

As of this publication, Daisy Cordero is facing charges of intoxication manslaughter, and bribery and has bonded out of jail.

Although the family is disappointed with Cordero’s bond, they are pleased with what Odessa Police have done for them.

“We have some of the greatest, most personalized, respectful officers,” Pasquale explained.

For the people behind the badge, this problem has a lasting impact on them as well.

“I’ve got kids myself, we’re human. And it takes a toll on you after the years,” said Lann.

“How do you come back from that? How, as a father, and a grandfather, how do you come back from the loss of a family member like that? We always keep those things in mind,” said Gerke.

While officers on the streets work to keep drunk drivers off them, they know that’s not the solution.

“If you can prevent the act from happening, you have no victims. So, here’s where a lot of focus needs to happen on prevention. We’ve got to get with community organizations. We’ve got to get with bars to stop the over-serving. We’ve got to get with just people and say, look, if you find yourself intoxicated, please call someone to give you a ride. Call Uber, call Lyft, call a friend, call your mother-in-law, call whoever,” said Gerke.

Personal responsibility could be one of the only ways to prevent more heartache, something Eliana’ Father, Chris Garcia, knows all too well.

“Everybody knows if you can’t handle what you can’t handle. You know your limit on drinking. You know your limit. Everybody knows their limit,” said Garica.

By speaking about what happened to them only months ago, they hope their message makes a lasting impact, praying Eliana’s passing is not in vain.

“If we saved one life, would we be okay with that? Hell yeah, we will. Because one life is really 10, 15, 20 lives that would have been affected by that one life’s loss, and it’d be worth it,” said Pasquale.

An uphill battle for police, they hope the public heeds their warnings.

“No excuse. If you drive drunk, you have made a choice to break the law. You have made a choice to potentially cause serious, irreparable harm to a family in this community,” Gerke explained.

The reality now for this family is they must continue to cope with their tremendous loss and try to keep moving forward.

However, they have a call to action for the community they call home.

“Don’t look the other way. Don’t think, oh, hell, I don’t know that person. If they’re drunk, don’t let them drive. If they insist on driving, call the cops. Give them a ride. Be the friend to them that y’all were to us when y’all gave us all the money that you gave us, all the prayers that you gave us, all the support that you gave us. Keep giving us that support in the sense of doing your part to try to stop the DWIs,” Pasquale exclaimed.