Ron Barnett’s LED arm band road safety campaign is in its third year and continues to grow in scope.
It all started in the Municipality of Grey Highlands back in 2022, following a tragic hit-and-run accident in Eugenia, when on a warm summer night, four people took a walk after dinner, unaware that they wouldn’t make it back to their house for dessert. A motorist, who was returning home from a day of boating on the lake, struck the group with his truck in the dark of night as the group walked along a residential roadway. One person was killed and three others were sent to hospital, one of them with life-threatening injuries.
The accident happened just a couple of blocks from Barnett’s property and it had a sobering affect on him, as it did with everyone else in the village. Prompted to take action to prevent such a thing from ever happening again, he looked at ways to illuminate pedestrians walking at night.
In the fall of 2022, the Eugenia resident purchased 700 LED-lighted armbands to distribute for free in the village, available at sponsoring retail businesses who helped cover the costs of the campaign. The armbands were accompanied by a bookmark with road safety tips for kids walking the streets and trick-or-treating at night. Local businesses were only too happy to participate and local families loved the armband giveaway.
Buoyed by the success of this first year, he expanded the campaign in 2023 with the purchase of 1,200 LED arm bands to distribute not only in Eugenia, but throughout Grey Highlands — also accompanied by a bookmark with an educational message, which was less about Halloween and more generally about road safety. Once again, businesses responded very positively and the campaign was a big success among all ages.
Despite the increased numbers, Barnett quickly ran out of armbands, realizing that he’d underestimated the success of the expanded campaign and vowed to take it to a whole new, more ambitious, level in 2024.
With the purchase of 4,000 arm bands to put into the hands of youth and residents throughout all of southern Grey County, he set out a plan.
He raised funds with the help of the Hanley Institute youth centre in Flesherton and partnered with Centre Grey Health Services Foundation in Markdale, focusing on their annual Gran Fondo cycling event September 8. He also expanded the accompanying safety message — now a three-panel brochure — to include tips for all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. The new brochure is entitled ‘Walk, Bike, Drive Safe’, and an extra 1,000 would be distributed in area hospitals and information centres.
He sought and received support from a Ontario’s Road Safety Community Partnership grant and received blessings from the OPP and the West Grey Police, as well as additional funding from local businesses and the municipalities of Chatsworth, Grey Highlands, West Grey, and Southgate to help pay for the costs of the new campaign.
The resulting 2024 campaign has been another huge success.
“The level of support and encouragement I’ve received with various groups and municipal councils is humbling,” said Barnett, following a recent delegation in Grey Highlands.
Armbands and brochures began distribution at regional fall fairs in late August and continue to be available this month, just in time for the longer nights of fall. They are available at participating retail locations, including Garage 13, Barkhouse Pet, and Top O’ The Rock in Eugenia, Highland Grounds in Flesherton, and Steven’s Restaurant/Champ Burger in Markdale. Armbands and brochures will also be handed out for free at various public events by Grey County Tourism, Chatsworth Fire & Safety, West Grey Police Services, the Municipalities of Grey Highlands, Southgate Township, and the Hanley Institute.
