Athletes from West Orange and beyond headed to Suriano Stadium on Sept. 22 to run, bike and walk 3.1 miles in honor of Nikhil Badlani for the 14th year in a row.
The annual STOP for Nikhil event is thrown each year by the Nikhil Badlani Foundation to honor Nikhil Badlani, who died in a car crash in 2011 when a driver failed to stop at a stop sign in South Orange.
The event raises money for the foundation’s traffic safety programs, music lessons and scholarships.
“They force the township to take a proactive traffic safety stance,” Mayor Susan McCartney said about the foundation before the race kicked off. “We thank the Badlani Foundation for their efforts in getting legislation passed and their advocacy for public safety.”
Sangeeta Badlani, Nikhil’s mother, described where the money raised from the annual race has gone over the last 14 years: 37 traffic safety murals, $330,000 in initiatives, $280,000 in scholarship funding to graduating students and over $100,000 on lessons for 190 music students.
“It’s been an incredible journey for the past 14 years, and we are just getting warmed up,” Sangeeta Badlani said at the event. “This is about protecting our family, friends and future. We won’t stop until we reach zero traffic deaths.”
State Sen. John McKeon spoke about his efforts to pass a bill that would provide compensation for traffic accident victims.
“Unfortunately, about 500 times a year, someone is either injured or killed in New Jersey,” McKeon said when he spoke before the race. “About 98 percent of those are not crimes. If someone is the victim of a crime, they can get compensation. That’s not the case if it’s not a crime. We’re hoping that by this time next year, that bill will be the law.”
Each year at the 5K, the NBF awards the Nikhil Badlani Inspiration Award to an individual or group who continues to advocate for traffic safety. This year’s recipient was Safe Streets Jersey City, an advocacy group that works to keep streets safe for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers in Jersey City. In 2022, Jersey City reached Vision Zero: there were no traffic related deaths in the city the whole year.
“We’ve seen a great deal of change, but their work never stops and there is so much left to do,” Colin DeVries, a board member of Safe Streets Jersey City, said at the event. “Thank you for the work you do here every day and for this award. It’s an honor.”
DeVries, who biked to West Orange from Jersey City along with fellow board member Emanuelle Morgen, said in an interview with the West Orange Chronicle said that reaching zero traffic deaths in Jersey City was in part due to advocacy, but also took a lot of work by the community and the city’s Department of Infrastructure.
“As the city has grown, it’s become denser,” DeVries said. “People want to walk, bike and drive safely. It’s important to keep up with the growth by creating safe routes for people to take. You do that by redesigning the streets. No one needs to die when they want to be outside of their home.”
Both first place finishers became two-time winners of the STOP for Nikhil race; Justin Amaya finished first overall and first in the male category with a time of 19:49. Rebecca Myers finished fifth overall and first in the female category with a time of 21:16.
On the day of the race $44,547 had been raised; donations are accepted until the end of the month. The leading fundraising team was the group from Gregory Elementary School, where Nikhil was a student, with $1,977. The leading individual fundraiser was Nish Gajarawala with $377.
More than $44,000 raised to fund scholarships and promote traffic safety added by Amanda Valentovic on
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