For teens, summer is the deadliest season on our roadways. That's why National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) is asking teens to join with them and help make some NOYS for safer summer driving.
Right now, NOYS and its partners are gearing up to support the Global Youth Traffic Safety Month campaign, held each year in May to kick off the summer season for young drivers. And they could use your help on three different fronts.
Act Out Loud is a
nationwide high school contest led by NOYS and The Allstate Foundation to engage and empower youth-led traffic safety
peer education projects. We know that
teens are more likely to listen to other teens, so messages about
the dangers of distracted driving and other unsafe driving practices are more effective when they come from
other young drivers. And that's where Act Out Loud comes in.
This year, Act Out Loud youth teams around the country are planning safe teen driving rallies for Global Youth Traffic Safety Month, and you can participate. If you're involved in a local high school--whether as a parent, faculty, staff, or student--it’s not too late to get in the game.
Each step you complete in advance of a May safe driving rally will earn your team points in the contest. Act Out Loud provides monetary awards with a $10,000 grand prize, in addition to providing each high school team an opportunity to earn up to $1,000 just by participating in projects leading up to the May rallies.
Visit www.ActOutLoud.org to see the rules and a list of teams; if there isn't one in your area, you can help your local high school create a team and register by April 1, 2013.
Global Road Safety Week also falls during the month of May, and this year, it's focused on pedestrian safety around the world. Groups from around the planet--led by the
Zenani Mandela, the Nelson Mandela family, and the Make Roads Safe Campaign for Global Road Safety--are
joining together to take a Long Short Walk for Safer Roads.
In this campaign, groups around the world are taking short walks that, when combined, will add up to one very long, collective walk reminding world leaders that pedestrian safety should be part of every community's sustainability plan.
American teens and adult safety advocates can support this worldwide effort. If you would like to get involved, NOYS provides a free toolkit with resources and ideas for how you can help.
A third opportunity to spread the message of safe driving this spring is through Project Yellow Light, a national video competition for high school and college students. The contest asks teens and young adults to make a video to encourage their peers to avoid distracted driving.
Two first place winners (one college, one high school) will
receive $5,000 each, and the winning videos will be distributed by the Ad Council to run on television stations nationwide. Scholarship prizes will also be awarded for second
and third place runner ups in both the college and high school contests.
The deadline to submit a video is April 1. Learn more about the scholarship--including rules, past winners, and frequently asked questions--at www.ProjectYellowLight.com.
These three terrific initiatives offer young Americans a way to get involved in the safe driving message. But remember, even if you don't join one of these efforts, you can still help make our roadways safer by exercising your own good judgment.
Safe driving doesn't just happen; it's a choice you make every time you get behind the wheel.
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