What if your bad driving habits changed someone's life forever?

Well, those are the kinds of questions you'll be seeing along State Road starting this week, linked to a new safety campaign from the Department of Transportation.

It's aimed at addressing dangerous driving behaviors and promoting safety as a way of life.

The what if.

And other messages will run on billboards, social media and other digital platforms through the end of the year in the hopes it will resonate with drivers on a personal level.

So they think about the consequences of speeding, driving while distracted or under the influence.

Maybe the most glaring recent example of that is the traumatic death of NHL hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew, who were killed by an alleged drunk driver last month while riding their bikes near their family home in South Jersey.

The incident has put a spotlight on safety issues pedestrians and cyclists face throughout the state.

Ted Goldberg reports on what's being done to confront it.

In the months since the Gaudreau brothers were killed by an alleged drunk driver.

Tributes to Johnny and Matthew have popped up nationwide.

The latest gesture came from the Philadelphia Flyers who brought in their father, Guy Gaudreau, as a guest coach for practice yesterday in Voorhees.

I wanted to be part of it.

I think it would be therapeutic for him to be around us and run some drills and he's done it before.

He's a coach and it was great.

The rink where the Gaudreaus learned to skate has become a shrine for the family.

Hockey sticks and pictures are outside Hollydell Ice Arena along with Johnny's go to purple Gatorade and Skittles, which he used to teach his sons how to skate.

When the Gaudreau brothers were hit by a car, they were biking near this intersection in Oldmans Township.

My experience on that road is I turn on to it and then I turn off it as quick as possible.

The death of the Gaudreaus has raised questions about how safe bicyclists feel in New Jersey and how safe they actually are.

Questions that inspired Rowan Professor Lawrence Smith to survey more than a thousand people.

People feel very vulnerable.

They feel like they are not protected in any way, shape or form, either by the infrastructure, by law enforcement.

Smith is a triathlete who was also struck by a car while biking.

I saw a car coming toward me.

I had the right of way.

I went into the intersection.

I heard the engine gone and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground.

I ended up with a massive concussion.

I broke my scapula, broke three ribs and shattered my collarbone.

And I am still recovering from that.

Two years later.

State data says 18 bicyclists have been killed by these crashes in New Jersey this year, already more than each of the previous two years.

Mike Fraser owns sneakers and spokes in nearby Woods town.

He says biking has become much more dangerous around South Jersey because of the rise in population and businesses.

Warehouses and the traffic that comes with that, that actually the trucks and stuff, that is construction side of it, too, which I would also imagine will eventually be employee side of it.

It is going to be it's a lot of traffic on little back.

The push for people moving down this way to finding jobs down this way, yes, it's definitely increased the traffic.

A few weeks ago, Woods town hosted a town hall of 60 plus people all concerned about what steps should be taken.

We had residents from Gloucester County, Cumberland County, Salem County.

We had officials from Salem County.

We had our state assemblyman here.

It was actually pretty good.

The mayor was here.

You know, just open discussion.

Fraser has a few ideas for solutions, including infrastructure projects and empathy.

I believe what they see is a bike going down the road and they don't see a person on a bike who is a father mother.

I love rails and trails.

I think rails and trails are awesome.

My whole life there's been an emphasis on education and punishment of bad actors, and we aren't really seeing a change.

Cory Hannigan works for Tri-State Transportation Campaign, and he'd like to see changes to infrastructure to benefit bicyclists and pedestrians.

What's worked in other states, other countries that are seeing progress on this front is really looking at what infrastructure saves lives, what infrastructure comes traffic.

While rural communities may not have the financial resources to improve their infrastructure, they do have some strengths.

It's opened fields a lot of the times on both sides of the road.

Obviously there's property issues to work out, but it seems a lot easier to sort of, you know, widen a sidewalk to ten feet.

As communities debate how to make their streets safer, the South Jersey community and the hockey world will continue to remember the Gaudreau brothers and honor their families.

In South Jersey.

I'm Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.