Students urged to get creative to stop distracted driving

High school students in Douglas County can lend their talent for a local safety campaign aimed at discouraging distracted drivers.

Douglas County Safe Communities Coalition invites 9th through 12th grade students from across the county to participate in a distracted driving campaign contest.

High school students can choose to submit a contest entry in one of two categories – a 30-second recorded public service announcement; or a logo and tagline illustrating the dangers of distracted driving.

The student(s) who created the winning entry will win a $100 gift card. Winning entries will also be used locally during the statewide Distracted Driving week of April 16-20 and up to one year in various campaign activities throughout the county.

“We hope students will use this contest as an opportunity to learn about the very real dangers of distracted driving and never take safety for granted,” said Crystal Hoepner, coalition coordinator. “Developing a campaign entry is a great way for students to share this important message with their peers and even their parents.”

Distracted driving poses a serious safety risk to drivers of all ages, and particularly to relatively inexperienced teen drivers, Hoepner said. According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Crash Facts, teen drivers continue to be overrepresented in traffic crashes due to driver inexperience, distractions, speeding/risk-taking, and seat belt non-use.

Each year, more than 30 teens (ages 16–19) are killed on Minnesota roads. Laws such as no cell phone use, no texting, primary seat belt, and nighttime and passenger limitations have helped reduce teen traffic deaths and injuries, Hoepner said.

Contest entries are due on Tuesday, March 20 by 5 p.m. Visit www.dcsafecommunities.com for full contest rules or students can pick up a form in their high school office.

The Safe Communities Coalition is a component of the state’s Toward Zero Death (TZD) program. A primary vision of the TZD program is to create a safe driving culture in Minnesota in which motorists support a goal of zero road fatalities by practicing and promoting safe and smart driving behavior.

TZD focuses on the application of four strategic areas to reduce crashes – education, enforcement, engineering and emergency trauma response.

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