(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and Travelers are teaming up to co-sponsor Connecticut’s 14th annual Teen Safe Driving Video Contest, which engages high school students on the importance of making responsible decisions behind the wheel.
The governor announced the launch of the contest during National Teen Driver Safety Week, which runs from October 16 to 22, 2022.
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for teens in the United States between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, during 2020 an estimated 2,276 people in the country were killed in car crashes involving teen drivers, and 748 of those deaths were teen drivers.
“This annual contest is an opportunity to educate and engage teenagers on the dangers of distracted driving and the importance of making smart decisions when getting behind the wheel,” Governor Lamont said. “Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for American teens. This contest helps spread the message associated with risk-taking behavior when driving a vehicle.”
The contest is open to all public, private, and home-schooled high school students in Connecticut between the ages of 14 to 18. It requires students to produce a creative, unique, and effective video public service announcement up to 45 seconds in length that highlights interactions between drivers and other teens and illustrates ways to practice safer driving habits while obeying Connecticut’s teen driving laws. The videos must also address at least one specific Connecticut teen driving law.
Travelers will award up to $26,000 in cash prizes to the winning students and their high schools. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2023.
“The contest theme, ‘Driving Safe Habits,’ empowers teens to promote responsible driving and motivate peers to follow the rules of the road,” DMV Commissioner Sibongile Magubane said. “We know that teen drivers are nearly three times more likely to be in a fatal crash than drivers aged 20 and older. Travelers and the Connecticut DMV co-sponsor the contest to drive home the message for safe driving.”
DMV Deputy Commissioner Antonio “Tony” Guerrera was House chair of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Transportation Committee in 2008. He helped lead the effort to change state laws to increase safety for teen drivers. “Young lives have been saved and families kept intact because we saw the need to change our policies and raise awareness about teenage drivers,” Deputy Commissioner Guerrera said. “This contest encourages schools and students to help us get the word out about how these laws make a difference.”
“Every driver plays a role in keeping our roadways safe,” Chris Hayes, assistant vice president of workers compensation and transportation, risk control at Travelers, said. “We are proud to continue our support of the Connecticut DMV Teen Safe Driving Video Contest and help empower Connecticut’s youngest drivers to educate each other about common driving risks and how to avoid them.”
Since the contest began, nearly 5,000 students representing 100 high schools across the state have participated.
To read the full contest rules and information on how to submit a video, visit ct.gov/teendriving/contest.
To watch videos of contest winners from prior years, visit youtube.com/teensafedriving12.
