MILWAUKEE — Safe & Sound Milwaukee is using a locally produced video to deter youth from reckless driving.
"I've watched the streets get worse and worse and worse as time went on," said Mariah Johnson, Youth Organizer with Safe & Sound. "I think a lot of the kids don't know the consequences that come with reckless driving."
The roughly 8-minute video that they are showing in area schools is called Project 943. It is named after Wisconsin State Statue 943.23 - Operating a vehicle without the owner's consent.
"We use Milwaukee music, we show the City of Milwaukee streets. We literally showcasing everything that represents Milwaukee," said Johnson.
High school seniors Ivory Lewis and Elliot Jordan helped with the production of the video.
"It gave me, and everybody else, more of an outlook on how reckless driving affects/impacts communities - people's families, people's personal, people's mental and physical health," said Lewis.
Both of the teens tell TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins that they have lost friends in reckless driving crashes.
Watch the Safe & Sound video here:
"It's really hurtful seeing a lot of teens out here dying of reckless driving," said Lewis.
"That's the goal, to make people think about what they finna do before they actually do it," said Jordan.
They say this video helps make the severity of the issue on Milwaukee streets relatable.
"When you hear stuff from police, sometimes police don't have somebody in their family that was influenced by reckless driving. So they don't know where we coming from when we get influenced or seen somebody get in reckless driving accidents," said Jordan.
Beyond the video, locally grown facilitators of Project 943, like Mariah, speak from their own experiences.
"My brother was killed in a reckless driving accident on 60th and Hampton. There was two cars racing at 120 miles per hour and they hit my brother and he was killed on impact," she said.
Now with over 400 kids reached through Safe & Sound, Mariah said she is just getting started.
"I come in and I'm going to meet them where they're at and let them know how much I care because I grew up on the same streets that they did," she said.
She's fighting for the youth who we all know are the future of this city.
"Just be safe, do the right thing, get your license - follow everyday procedure so that your family won't get hurt, you won't get hurt and you won't hurt anybody else's family," said Lewis.
