Toyota's Teen Driver Safety Contest

A sad fact: motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year-old drivers, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Are they preventable? With more outreach programs aimed at teenagers, I say yes. Many Toyota vehicles such as the Highlander and Yaris have been named top safety picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but car design can only go so far when it comes to keeping a driver safe. The rest must be learned by young adults through awareness and education. Toyota and Discovery Education realized this back in 2010 and teamed up to create Toyota Teen Driver, a comprehensive program and online destination providing safe-driving tools and resources to educators, students and parents. One of the great ideas put forth by Toyota and Discovery Education is being referred to as the Toyota Teen Driver Video Challenge and Toyota Teen Driver Educators’ Challenge.



Both are contests designed to spur ideas for safe driving habits and community awareness. Students in 9th-12th grade can submit a video describing their ideas for promoting driver safety in young people, with the most compelling and voted for videos being selected as the winners. The top three entries will be awarded $15,000, $10,000, and $7,500, in addition to being filmed by Discovery for a segment on their stories. Teachers may enter the teen driver educator's challenge and develop an action plan for keeping students safe on the roads, with the best entry winning a $10,000 cash prize and a trip to Washington to attend a safe driving conference.

With the prevalence of texting and driving and driving under the influence, an initiative like this is a great idea for collaborating on ways to engage young drivers on the importance of vehicle safety. If you know anyone who is a student or teacher, share this with them and encourage them to enter! I'd love to hear their story, especially if it ends up being featured on the Toyota Teen Driver website.

The deadline for entries is Feb 14, 2013.