FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
34th Annual John T. Hanna Awards for Excellence in Traffic Safety
Presented by Drive Safe Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads, VA. (March 2025) – The John T. Hanna Awards for Excellence in Traffic Safety are presented annually by Drive Safe Hampton Roads to individuals and organizations who demonstrate exceptional effort promoting and encouraging traffic safety within Hampton Roads.
At a ceremony on April 30th, awards were presented in the following categories: Impaired Driving Prevention, Law Enforcement Initiatives, Youth Traffic Safety, Occupant Protection, Traffic Safety Activism, and Transportation Safety.
During this ceremony, Drive Safe Hampton Roads honored the following recipients.
• Sergeant Chad A. Beale (Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office) – Impaired Driving Prevention
Sergeant Beale has been a dedicated Virginia law enforcement officer since 2009, focusing on impaired driving enforcement. In addition to his efforts to end impaired driving during his patrol time in Isle of Wight County, Sergeant Beale has shared his knowledge and expertise by instructing other police officers at police academies in the area. His role in training future law enforcement officers demonstrates his ongoing commitment to reduce impaired driving in Hampton Roads.
• Law Enforcement Initiatives Co-Winners:
o Officer Kasey Bogue (Suffolk Police Department
Officer Kasey Bogue demonstrated the commitment to traffic safety through his traffic enforcement efforts. Officer Bogue has conducted countless traffic stops since May of 2024 to keep the citizens of Suffolk safer. While on patrol, Officer Bogue has made 26 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) / Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) arrests in the timeframe between May and December 2024. He has also made 368 traffic stops with 223 traffic summonses written for a variety of other traffic related infractions. His dedication has led to the prevention of crashes, injuries and fatalities for the citizens he serves
o Officer Joseph Anderson-Hodgin (Suffolk Police Department)
With over 100,000 people living within the city limits, Suffolk Police Officers have a busy time not only with their citizens, but also those who travel through their central hub in and out of the area.
Officer Anderson-Hodgin has shown the commitment to all by patrolling Suffolk roadways and conducting countless traffic stops in 2024 for a variety of traffic infractions. During the January to December 2024 timeframe, Officer Anderson-Hodgin made 55 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) / Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) arrests, 382 Traffic Stops, investigated 51 Traffic accidents, performed 119 Arrests (67 DUI arrests) and issued 341 Traffic summons. Additionally, Officer Anderson-Hodgin has successfully completed the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) training, to become more proficient in DUI/DUID detection.
• Trooper Adelaide Fischer (Virginia State Police) – In Youth Traffic Safety
Trooper Fischer has volunteered over 250 hours of her own time working with local youth groups, teen groups and young adults leading peer-to-peer education programs to empower teenagers to work towards the prevention of this age group’s number one cause of safety and health concerns, motor vehicle crashes. Trooper Fischer has led discussions on personal safety, teen driver safety, driving distractions, and defensive driving. Additionally, Trooper Fischer regularly facilitates the State Police DUI Simulator at numerous high schools across Hampton Roads. Trooper Fischer volunteers to perform these tasks in addition to her regular scheduled shift of patrolling the interstate system in Hampton and Newport News.
• Christy King (Christopher King Foundation) – Occupant Protection
Christy King rose from an unimaginable loss of her son, Christopher King, as the result of a car crash shortly after his high school graduation almost 5 years ago. From the depths of their grief, Christy King found a calling. She tirelessly champions safe driving practices and the critical importance of seat belt usage. Christy donates her time traveling to multiple Hampton Roads schools, sharing her heartbreaking story to students and faculty, meeting with small groups all day at the designated schools and tells them how Christopher lost his life simply by choosing not to wear his seatbelt that night. She urges students to make good decisions, to always buckle up, and speak up to those in their families who choose not to buckle up.
After discovering that Virginia had the lowest seat belt usage rate in the country for the second consecutive year, Christy began reaching out to more than 30 delegates, senators, and the governor’s office. She successfully rallied bipartisan support to carry the bill, which expanded the existing seat belt law to include back seat passengers. As of July 1, 2025, Virginia law—now known as The Christopher King Seat Belt Law—will require all adult passengers, including those in the back seat, to wear seat belts.
• Deputy Brad E. Hughes (Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office) – Martin H. Schlosser Award for Traffic Safety Activism
Brad Hughes’s approach to educating youth on traffic safety is both deeply personal and uniquely impactful. Unlike typical educators, Brad’s message is shaped by his own life-changing trauma, which lends a profound authenticity and urgency to his presentations. After losing both legs while serving as a Special Police Officer in a highway crash, Deputy Hughes transformed his experience into a powerful advocacy mission, making him an unparalleled voice in traffic safety education. His vivid storytelling and firsthand perspective transform abstract safety concepts into relatable, human experiences. His core message—”In just three seconds, you can change or take a life”—leaves a lasting impact on young drivers by highlighting the immediate dangers of distractions and impaired driving.
He dedicates countless volunteer hours and leverages significant public and private resources to advance road safety education through impactful programs. He lends his expertise and personal experience to community-focused events, church groups, and civic organizations—all aimed at fostering safer driving behaviors. His unique combination of personal testimony, impactful outreach, and community service exemplifies how resilience and purpose can drive lasting change, making roads safer for everyone.
• Kristin Pettway (DRIVE SMART Virginia) – Transportation Safety
Kristin Pettway (Executive Director with DRIVE SMART Virginia), has a strong belief that roads can be made safer through educating drivers about the dangers of speeding, impaired driving, reckless driving, distracted driving, and fatigued driving among other areas. This has led her to create and lead commercial motor vehicle safety programs, numerous interactive teen driving programs, and the development of several traffic safety campaigns and collaterals. She also managed community and sports partnerships, including “Who’s Your Driver?” and “What’s Your Gameplan?”.
Kristin spearheaded the distracted/impaired driving simulator program, utilizing immersive 3D animation to place the “driver” behind the wheel of an actual vehicle during a simulated driving experience, visiting high schools, colleges, and workplaces in Hampton Roads. This Simulator shows thousands of aspiring drivers the dangers of distracted driving. She also manages the annual Distracted Driving Summit and handles most of the organization’s event planning.
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Drive Safe Hampton Roads is a non-profit regional coalition comprised of traffic safety advocates from regional law enforcement and fire/rescue agencies; national organizations; local businesses; military; state, city and county government officials; community organizations; and individuals from the Hampton Roads community. For over 35 years, Drive Safe Hampton Roads’ (DSHR) mission has been to improve roadway safety and reduce death and injury from vehicle crashes using initiatives that include educational programs, information sharing, and partnerships with public and private sector organizations.
John T. Hanna, the namesake of the awards, is widely known in the Commonwealth for his years of service dedicated to improving traffic safety in Virginia. Hanna served as the Deputy Commissioner for Transportation Safety at the state Department of Motor Vehicles and worked in the traffic safety field for more than 60 years.
After 20 years of naval service, Martin worked at the Virginia International Terminal for another 13 years, where his dedication to highway safety -most notably motor carrier safety- intensified. He joined Drive Safe Hampton Roads in 2002. Martin passed away in 2009, leaving a legacy of exemplary activism in traffic safety. In 2011, the Traffic Safety Activism Hanna Award was renamed in his honor and is now known as the Martin H. Schlosser Award for Traffic Safety Activism recognizing individuals that share Martin’s commitment and passion for traffic safety activism.
Media Contact:
Drive Safe Hampton Roads
Phone: 757-498-2562
Email: [email protected]
For more information, visit www.DriveSafeHR.org and award pictures, visit https://www.drivesafehr.org/get-involved/john-t-hanna-awards/.