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NYC Ad Campaign Targeting Reckless Driving Features Family Members Of Crash Victims

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City is launching an ad campaign to combat dangerous driving.

The Department of Transportation ads warn motorists that "reckless driving kills" and feature family members holding pictures of loved ones killed by reckless drivers.

One ad features a Queens mother holding a picture of her 14-year-old son in a graduation cap.

"A driver hit my son riding his bicycle on Shore Front Parkway," Audrey Anderson said in one of the ads. "Andre should be turning 23 this year."

Anderson's son was killed on Sept. 24, 2005. He was making his way home when he was hit from behind by an SUV.

"Andre was a very smart and vibrant individual who loved life. He possessed one of the most beautiful personalities I could ever imagine," Anderson said in a press release. "I surely miss him and will always cherish all the great memories we shared. Andre was only 14 but we shared a beautiful life. He can never be forgotten."

Another ad shows David Shephard, of the Bronx, holding a picture of his fiancée Sonya Powell who was struck and killed after a day of Black Friday shopping on Nov. 28, 2009.

"My fiancée was hit and killed by a driver while crossing Baychester Avenue," the ad reads. "This year would have been another anniversary."

The ads will be going up on bus shelters and billboards.

The city will launch a separate campaign targeting drunken driving later this week.

The city had 274 traffic deaths last year, the highest since 2008, and 148 pedestrian were killed.

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