New York, March 4, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (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 today for the third 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 Portland, Maine 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, so we 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 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 is those under the age of 20."
Entries, which must be received by May 31, 2013, 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 to The National Road Safety Foundation JST DRV Contest, 18 East 50th St., New York, NY 10022. They can also be emailed to jstdrv@nrsf.org.
The JST DRV Radio PSA Contest is being organized by The National Road Safety Foundation, Inc., which produces traffic safety education programs that it distributes to schools, police and others free of charge, and the National Student Safety Program, which is the youth organization of the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association. Visit www.jstdrv.org for complete contest rules and more information about the competition. Entries by previous winners may also be heard at the site.