Grassroots Effort Reminds Drivers To Pay More Attention Pops Up in East Hampton

Over the Fourth of July weekend, signs started popping up around town meant to remind motorists, "Drive Like Your Kids Live Here."

The signs — part of a national grassroots campaign — appeared just weeks after a 14-year-old girl died from injuries she sustained after she was struck by a sport utility vehicle while riding her bicycle in East Hampton Village. Anna Lytton was gearing up for eighth grade graduation from the Springs School when her life was cut short.

One of the first of these signs spotted around town was on Old Stone Highway, near the place where a 17-year-old was killed last year. Jeffrey Ahn was walking with friends on his way to his family's house when a taxi van hit him.

Both Anna and Jeffrey's deaths happened during the day. Criminal charges weren't filed against either drivers.

Jeffrey's sister, Presca Ahn, said her family wasn't aware of the campaign until one of the signs were placed at the site where her brother was killed. "We don't know who placed it there, but it was put there on July 4, not long after the one-year anniversary of the accident, and then mysteriously removed the same day," she wrote in an email.

"It seems like a great campaign, though. Of course we support it 100 percent. Reckless driving is such a problem in the Hamptons, and we aren't the only family to have lost a child to it. I hope people will take notice and be more responsible when they drive here," she said.

The campaign's goal, according to the organization's website, "is to slow down aggressive and distracted drivers in our neighborhoods, prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths, and win back our streets for our children."

Approximately 70 percent of all children killed or injured by motor vehicles are struck near their homes, the group states. Vehicular accidents are the leading cause of death for ages 3 to 14, according to figures from the National Center for Health Statistics.

The organization, founded in 2010, provides products promoting conscientious driving that are available online. Yard signs cost $9.99 and reflective street signs are also available for $44.95. Bumper stickers and auto magnets are among the objects available.

Elizabeth Carey, who posted a photograph of the sign on East Hampton Patch earlier this week, said she and her brother-in-law were responsible for the signs popping up in East Hampton. She said she ordered them after seeing them in Cape Cod last summer.

"Now friends are ordering them online and I might see if some retailers would either post them in their stores or carry them," she wrote on the site. "I think they are genius. Not sure if they really reach the teen/twenty-somethings, though, and those are the worst drivers I've seen this summer."

Carey did not immediately respond for an interview. For more on the campaign, click here.

What do you think of the signs? Are you interesting in getting involved in the campaign? Tell us in the comments below.