SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — The Garden State has a message for drivers: Take control of your destiny.
The state kicked off National Distracted Driving Awareness Month with an ad campaign urging drivers to put down the phone and focus on the road.
The “Take Control Of Your Destiny” campaign — paired with its slogan, “You Have Places to Go. Don’t Drive Distracted.” — features images of colorfully decorated steering wheels. The monthlong digital ads will appear in supermarkets and along the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, as well as online radio outlets.
According to New Jersey State Police, distracted driving was the cause of more than a quarter of the fatal crashes in the state from 2015 to 2019. During that same period, more than half of all crashes in the state — both fatal and non-fatal — involved a distracted driver.
“Distracted driving claims more lives on our roads in New Jersey than any other cause,” said Eric Heitmann, director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “The campaign encourages drivers to put their cellphones down and focus on the important matter of what lies ahead — literally and metaphorically.”
New Jersey joins other states across the country in bringing awareness to the dangers of risky driving.
“The message is that maintaining focus on the road ahead will get you where you’re going safely and, ultimately, where you want to go in life,” Heitmann added.