Keep Your Eyes On The Road: South Brunswick Students Launch Road Safety Initiative

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ – Last year, South Brunswick witnessed many road crashes, some of them fatal.

To promote driver safety, the students of South Brunswick High School’s Helping Hands Club have launched “Mind on the Road, Hands on the Wheel” program to raise awareness on distracted driving.

The distracted driving program is part of the National Champion Schools program, in partnership with the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey.

The initiative encourages high schools to spread awareness in their respective districts about the dangers of distracted driving and how to keep roads safe for drivers of all ages.

“In recent years, there's been a lot of motor accidents, and unfortunately some fatalities. We thought it would be important to spread awareness throughout the high school and the entire town to as a way to educate people, especially teenagers,” said Siddh Shah, a high school senior.

The initiative came about after two South Brunswick students were killed in crashes in the past two years, Shah said.

The students were also inspired by Joel Feldman, a Philadelphia lawyer who founded EndDD.org (End Distracted Driving) after his daughter Casey was killed by a distracted driver in Ocean City, NJ in 2009.

Launched in January, students plan to run the initiative until the end of the school year in June. The campaign which first began in 2022 is in its second year.

“Although we started it last year, the Helping Hands club didn't do as much as they wanted to. So this year, we decided to go all out,” Shah said. “We’ve upgraded the program and are organizing events around it to spread more awareness.”

As part of their promotional strategy, students will be adding a page about driving guidelines to junior and senior prom packets; holding activities during school lunches which include pledges and photo booths; coordinating with the police department and putting their message on the Route 1 billboard.

“We're also planning an event around late May, where we'll be contacting various organizations and vendors. It will be similar to a carnival or like a fete, and all the proceeds will be donated to foundations aimed at safe driving,” Shah said.

Last year, the student campaign focused on distracted drivers. This year they are focusing on passengers. “This year, our focus is going to be riders - making sure passengers keep the driver focused on the road. It's going to focus on the responsibility of the passengers in the car, as well as the responsibility of the actual driver,” Shah said.

The students hope their message is able to reach a larger number of people this year.

“There's a lot of traffic congestion around our schools, and many students walk to school and cross the road. We lost a student to a car crash last year and we are not doing this for any publicity,” Shah said.

“A single mistake could leave you crippled forever or worse. We just want our community to be safe.”

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