Teens Invited to Spread Distracted Driving Message With Radio Public Service Announcements

NEW YORK, Jan 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- (http://www.myprgenie.com) -- Two national traffic safety education organizations are inviting teens to help spread the word about the dangers of distracted driving with a contest to find the best youth-generated public service messages for radio. 

Entries open Feb. 2 for the second annual JST DRV Radio PSA Contest, sponsored by The National Road Safety Foundation and NSSP, the National Student Safety Program of the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA).

Young people ages 14 -- 18 are invited to submit a radio PSA that talks to teens about the risks of distracted driving.  The winner will receive a $1,000 and an expenses-paid trip to Wisconsin to participate in the NSSP national youth conference in mid-July. The winning PSA will also be broadcast nationally on the air and online. Three runners-up will each receive a $500 prize. 

"Traffic crashes are the number one cause of death among U.S. teens, with 5,000 young people killed annually and thousands more injured," said Michelle Anderson of The National Road Safety Foundation. "The U.S. Secretary of Transportation has called distracted driving a national epidemic, and this contest will encourage young people to communicate important messages about the issue to peers in their own voice."

"As today's technology enables young people to be constantly connected with friends, distracted driving is a major problem that is growing in scope exponentially," said Jan Meeker, of the Hawaii Dept. of Education and NSSP Liaison to ADTSEA. "A quarter of all teens admit to texting behind the wheel and the highest proportion of distracted drivers in fatal crashes was under the age of 20." 

Last year's winner, Avneet Singh, a ninth-grader from Clinton, Mississippi, submitted a radio PSA that begins with the sound of a car engine starting, followed by the sound of fingers texting on a cell phone. We hear the engine revving, and then tires squealing and a crash. The voiceover says, "Texting is a leading cause of teenage deaths. Dying to text is no LOL (laughing out loud) matter."   

Entries should be recorded and must be 15 or 30 seconds in length. Entries must include a wmv file or a live link, and should be mailed by April 30 to National Road Safety Foundation JST DRV Contest, 18 East 50th St., New York, NY 10022. They can also be emailed to [email protected].

The JST DRV Radio PSA Contest is organized by The National Road Safety Foundation, Inc., which produces traffic safety education programs that it distributes free to schools, police and others, and the National Student Safety Program, the youth arm of the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association.

Visit www.jstdrv.org or www.adtsea.org/nssp/ for contest rules. Entry deadline is April 30, 2012.

Contact:
David Reich
[email protected]
212 573-6000

SOURCE The National Road Safety Foundation