NEVADA TEEN WINS "DRIVE2LIFE" PSA CONTEST WITH SCRIPT ABOUT SAFE DRIVING AND SHARING THE ROAD

17-year-old wins $2,000 and will work with Emmy-winning director to make her PSA; The National Road Safety Foundation will air the video on some 200 TV stations nationwide

NEW YORK, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A teen from North Las Vegas, NV, has won the grand prize in the 12^th annual Drive2Life PSA Contest, sponsored by The National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF), a non-profit group that promotes safe driving behavior.

Sydney Apperson, 17, submitted a script for a public service message about the importance of drivers sharing the road with pedestrians and bicyclists.  Her idea was selected from nearly 400 entries that came from teens nationwide.  She wins a prize of $2,000 and the chance to work remotely with a New York-based Emmy Award-winning production team to shoot and edit her script into a 30-second PSA that will air on hundreds of TV stations including the nationally-syndicated show "Teen Kids News."  

Apperson, who is in her final year of home schooling, said she wanted to convey a serious message in a lighthearted way. "I hope it will draw in young people to watch it because it's eye-catching," she said.

Her winning script is a throwback to the era of arcades and silent movies, using titles on the screen to show the dialogue.  In the script, two friends are rushing to a high school football game when they see a Charlie Chaplin-like man slowly crossing the street ahead of them, twirling his cane.  The driver begins to speed up, to try beat the man across, but his friend tells him to slow down and let the man finish crossing. "If we have a crash, we won't get to the game at all," he says. "Pedestrian, bike or scooter…whatever it is, we need to share the road." 

"We liked Sydney's idea for its humor and its simplicity in communicating an important message about being aware of others who share the road with drivers," said Michelle Anderson of The National Road Safety Foundation.

Four Drive2Life runners-up were also selected, each winning a $500 prize. Runners-up in the Grades 6–8 category are Christina Estrada, 13, of Corpus Christi School in Landsdale, PA, and Jeremiah Harmon, 13, of Pennsylvania Leadership High School in West Chester, PA.  Runners-up in grades 9–12 are Emily Jade Louscher, 14, of North Creek High School in Bothell, WA, and Sam Robin, 17, a student at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, NC.

The contest was conducted in partnership with Young Minds Inspired (YMI), the nation's leading provider of free educational outreach programs through its YMI Educator Network, which reaches more than 2 million teachers at every public, private, and parochial school in the nation.

The National Road Safety Foundation, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization now in its 60^th year, produces traffic safety programs on distracted driving, speed and aggression, impaired driving, drowsy driving, driver proficiency, pedestrian safety and a host of other safety issues. It distributes the programs free of charge to schools, police and traffic safety advocates, community groups and individuals. It also sponsors contests to engage teens in promoting safe driving to their peers and in their communities. For more information or to download free programs, visit www.nrsf.org  and "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

SOURCE The National Road Safety Foundation