What began as a school project for two local sisters has left a permanent mark at the Georgian College Orillia campus where the young women recently graduated from Police Foundations.
On Friday afternoon, a Project C.R.A.S.H. sign was unveiled at the campus exit onto Memorial Drive, right next door to OPP Headquarters.
Emmily and Maggie Bradley are the brains behind Project C.R.A.S.H., a road safety initiative inspired by a former university roommate of Emmily's who was badly injured in an impaired driving car crash.
"We're very excited. It means a lot to us because this is where we graduated from police foundations," said Emmily, 24, after the wrapping was removed from the yellow sign.
"Our main short term goal was to get our sign posted at Georgian College in Orillia. We're also hoping to get additional signs posted at six other Georgian College campuses," said Maggie, 27.
Project C.R.A.S.H. stands for "Cherish Roads and Safe Highways" and is aimed at raising awareness about the 'Big 4' driving errors: aggressive driving, impaired driving, distracted driving and driving without seatbelts.
Toronto Police officers P.C. Randall Arsenault and P.C. Kyriakos Papadopoulos (aka PC Pappy) were in Orillia to attend the sign unveiling.
"We've never seen students take so much initiative for a school project. They really impressed us," said Arsenault, a community engagement officer. "We wouldn't miss this. We just wanted to here and show our support from Toronto,
Traffic officer P.C. Pappy believes the message will make a difference because it comes from peers.
"This is a different message than what we put out," he said. "More youthfulness and hopefully the kids will be able to learn from the sign."
Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke attended the sign reveal and congratulated the Bradley sisters on their achievement.
A teacher and several other supporters also turned out for the event.
