Ohio pair driving cross-country for human trafficking awareness

Fifty-four hours from New York to Los Angeles — that's the goal for a couple buddies driving an electric car. If they make it, they'll break a record.

"If you think about a normal road trip, it's like that but with a lot of steroids," said Bradly D'Souza of Cincinnati.

D'Souza and Jordan Hart, of Bellbrook, are attempting a “cannonball,” or a transcontinental drive. They'll be driving the speed limit to maximize battery efficiency, limiting air conditioning, and using solar chargers for their cell phones.

The current record is 55 hours.

Hart and D'Souza estimate it will take them 20 stops at supercharging stations like the one off of Interstate 70 in Englewood. They'll fill up enough to partially charge the battery and get to the next supercharger.

The pair is calling their trip the "Freedom 5000," and they organized the mission to raise awareness for human trafficking.

The D'Souza family came to the United States in 2003 as victims of labor trafficking. D'Souza's father was promised a new life and a good salary.

"My parents wound up working 16-plus hour days for no pay. We were living in less than a one bed type of place to survive," D'Souza said.

D'Souza and Hart plan to donate their profits to help victims of human trafficking.

Their trip begins June 12.

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