mentsch1: My issue is that you are using this forum for your mussar when it was not the reason for these bochurim being issued the tickets. They did not get a ticket because cars passed them. They go a ticket because there is a law on the books making hitchhiking illegal for whatever reason the legislature passed the law. If you don’t agree with the law, move to New Jersey (unless you already live there), run for the legislature and change it.
Why is this different than our fights against shecita bans etc. ? Because we cannot live a normal life without shechita.. Hitchhiking (however you want to twist yourself into a pretzel and turn it into a chesed) is not. If the boys were just walking along the road towards Lakewood, your mussar would be correct. The fact that they were actively trying to hitchhike in an area where it is forbidden is the problem.
To solve the problem would be to designate an area where yeshiva bochurim to congregate and drivers know to go there to offer them rides. It would be similar to the groups that gather at “Shomrei Shabbos” on 53rd and 13th Ave. looking for rides from Brooklyn to Lakewood.