Good morning Subscriber First Name!

May has been an insanely busy month at SAFE. I’m grateful that we have an awesome and dedicated team to make all this happen.

We had an amazing Awards Ceremony for the hundreds of students who participated in this year’s Streets, Art, SAFE competition. Read on for the winning videos and posters — AMAZING stuff!.

We found out about the LA Mayor’s plans to eliminate road safety funding at LADOT and staged a dramatic die-in protest and press conference, in collaboration with our non-profit friends and fellow activists, that was covered by almost every TV and radio station. As a result, things are looking better—not great, but better—for road safety. We won’t know for sure until May 21, when the final budget will be voted on. Your help is still needed on this!

We have been out in force at various events and locations supporting bicycle-related activities — Bike to Work (or wherever you want to go) Day, the opening of the first section of the Rail to River trail in South LA, and we will be at Ride of Silence this Wednesday at 6:00 PM.

All of this is on top of work we’ve been doing at the state Capitol, working on 40 different pieces of legislation. We will have updates on legislation in future newsletters, so stay tuned.

Clean Ride Crew is back after a month off. Please join us to clean up the Forest Lawn Drive bike path.

Most importantly, Finish The Ride and Run Griffith Park will be held at the end of May. We need A LOT more volunteers to help. Please sign up using this link: bit.ly/Volunteer_FTR_GP.

Thank you for all your support!

All the best,

Damian Kevitt
Executive Director and Founder

Ongoing Advocacy Efforts

Our Biggest Awareness
Event is Almost Here!

One of our biggest advocacy events of the year is almost upon us!

We’re hard at work putting together an epic Finish The Ride and Finish The Run. We’ve partnered with AAA to make the Expo Area bigger and better than ever.

We want you and your family to have an amazing time, while helping us raise awareness for road safety, honoring those lost, and supporting our 2025 advocacy activities.

This event is the original event that started it all. First held in 2014 - when I finished the ride I started that fateful Sunday in 2013 when I lost my leg and almost my life to a hit and run driver, who never stopped and who was never caught.

I hope to see you there. Be it as a participant, just coming to hang out, or as a volunteer. We’re looking forward to the weekend!

Thank You For Joining Us!
How you can still help

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who showed up for the powerful die-in protest outside LA City Hall. Your presence sent a clear message: street safety cannot be sidelined.

As Mayor Bass proposes deep cuts to the Department of Transportation you stood up (and laid down) to demand that lives not be sacrificed for budget line items.

We are proud to stand with you in this movement to make streets safer for everyone.

Here’s just a few of the media pieces that covered our movement:

• LAist

• ABC 7

• NBC LA

• Fox LA

• Torched

Thank you to LA Walks, Bike LA, Families for SAFE Streets, People For Mobility Justice, Streets For All, Bicycle Transit Systems, Street Racing Kills, Biking in LA, Walk N Rollers, Biking While Black, and all activists who stood with us to say that sidelining the safety of our city is not an option!

High School Education Program

May 3rd saw the awards ceremony for our 9th annual high school film and inaugural poster competition.

Streets, Art, SAFE is a fun and creative program that educates high school students about traffic safety through the arts - film, posters, and visual storytelling.

Here’s some of this year’s student feedback:

“Last year was my first year in the competition, and I already felt like I was a better driver. Coming back to the competition it has motivated me to inspire other people to become better drivers as well.” - T.O.

It has made me more aware of the statistics because of all the research I had to do for the competition, by making the PSA the information really sticks in your head. - M.D.H.

To be more aware of my surroundings, environment, and other people while driving, and re-evaluate the value of life when on the road. - S.I.

Watch and view the winning student’s brilliant work this year!

Volunteer Opportunities

Clean Ride Crew May 24th, 2025!

The Clean Ride Crew is back in Griffith Park this Saturday! Come out and help us give Forrest Lawn Drive some love.

🕒 Time: 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
📍 Meet-Up Location: Junior Achievement of Southern California
6250 Forest Lawn Dr, Los Angeles, California, 90068.

Finish The Ride and Run Griffith Park!

Join us as a volunteer for Finish The Ride and Run – Griffith Park! We have volunteer slots available from May 29th through June 2nd.

It’s not glamorous, but it matters. You’ll be part of something real—helping us pull off one of the most meaningful events in LA that pushes for safer streets and honors lives lost to traffic violence.

Whether you’re handing out water, cheering on participants, or helping set up, your time makes a difference. We can’t do this without community—and that means folks like you!

👉 Sign up to volunteer: bit.ly/Volunteer_FTR_GP
💛 Thank you for giving a damn!

We’ve got a free SAFE t-shirt for you and 6 hours of volunteering earns you free entry into a Finish the Ride or Run event of your choice!

Want to know how else to support?

SAFE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  
Federal EIN 47-3036490 - All donations are tax-deductible.