After the devastating loss of her husband Jim, killed by a hit-and-run driver while jogging on Main Road in Laurel Jan. 16, Jennifer Callaghan wanted to do her best to ensure that no one else ever has to endure such tragedy.
To that end, Callaghan has worked to raise awareness and make roads safer for joggers and cyclists, and took part in taping an educational public service announcement to bring awareness to hit-and-run accidents. The PSA was taped in August and will be unveiled at a press conference at the Suffolk County Police Department headquarters in Yaphank on Friday at 11:30 a.m.
Suffolk County officials will join with bike and safety advocates to unveil the new bicycle safety PSA, the first in a series of PSAs meant to inform and remind Suffolk County motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to follow the rules of the road. As a result of high incident rate of hit and run accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians, Suffolk County aims to educate and inform the public on proper safety precautions and procedures when on the roadways, Bellone’s office said, in a release.
Callaghan will speak about the importance of educating the public on motorist and cyclist safety.
The PSA is part of Suffolk County’s ongoing bicycle safety initiatives to reduce the number of hit and run accidents, including its Complete Streets project, bicycle safety study and public education campaign, Bellone’s office said.
Callaghan said she was happy to be involved and do something to address the hit-and-run issue “this county has been plagued with. I can only hope and pray that my involvement saves one life and one family from the pain and suffering our family has endured. If it saves one person, one family, it will be worth it.”
She added, “Shedding a light on the importance of safety on everyone’s part is very important to me.”
The PSA was taped in August at the police academy located at the Suffolk County Community College’s Brentwood campus, Callaghan said. She was joined by cyclist Jim Nostrom, of the group Long Island Cyclists and Runners together for Safety & Solidarity and the Greater Long Island Running Club, and thanked Nostrom for his “continued efforts to make our areas safe for runners and cyclists.”
The three-person PSA features a message from Callaghan, Nostrom, and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
The PSA taping came as the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office closed her husband’s case, Callaghan said. “It’s now considered a ‘cold case’,” she said in Augut.
And after months of hoping for a lead in the case, Callaghan said, “There is no such thing as closure. I just wanted justice.”
In March, new evidence was uncovered in the ongoing investigation after a driver allegedly struck and killed a jogger on Main Road in Laurel and then left the scene, according to Suffolk County police.
Callaghan said at the time that paint was found on her husband’s clothing that did not match the paint on the two cars that did stop after the accident. The paint, she said, is metallic blue, and indicates that there was a third driver who struck her husband and fled the scene.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and the Southold Town Police Department said in March in a release that they were seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the drivers of the vehicles involved in the hit-and-run crash. Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information that could have led to an arrest.
No driver was ever found, she said.
Callaghan, 49, of Jamesport was killed on January 16 during the pre-daylight hours while jogging in dense fog conditions along Route 25. Officials said it appeared that Callaghan was struck by two westbound vehicles and that he may have been lying in the roadway when struck.
Reflecting on her husband, Callaghan said, “We had quite the love story. We lived a lot in the short time we were together. We did everything together.”
Her husband was “a gentleman, in every sense of the word,” she said. “A comedian, with sharp wit. He was intelligent, devoted, a loving father to his four children, a great friend. He was athletic, motivated and a motivator. I could go on and on and on. He was a little bit of everything.”
The bond the couple shared is forever, Callaghan said. “He was the love of my life, and then some. I was very, very blessed, for no matter how much time I had him.”
Since his death, friends and family have continued to honor him and celebrate the memory of his life, most recently at a race held to raise funds for Maureen’s Haven, the homeless program where Callaghan devoted time to helping the less fortunate.
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