Traffic collisions are the leading cause of death for young people in the US with more than fourteen deaths per day on America's roads. That is more than the number of teen deaths by murder, suicide, and cancer combined. It is a tragic issue that driving safety experts have been working a long time to try to solve. While there have been some gains, mainly through Graduated Driving License (GDL) and mandatory seat belt laws, the death and injury rate remains too high.

One way to solve the problem is to look to the teenage drivers themselves for a solution. The National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) is an organization that is trying to make a difference. Made up of more than 70 national nonprofit organizations, business and industry partners, and federal government agencies, NOYS has developed some innovative ways to get teens involved to get the word out to other teens about driving safety.

As sponsors of the National Youth Traffic Safety Month® (NYTSM), NOYS is sponsoring a nationwide contest to involve teens in spreading the traffic safety message. Act Out Loud is a competition to get teams from high schools throughout the nation to spread the word among their peers about the dangers of teen driving. The contest will run from October 14, 2011 – January 13, 2012. There are more than $90,000 in cash and prizes with a $10,000 grand prize going to the winning team along with a private concert from musical star Skyler.
The rules are simple but it will take a lot of team-work and creativity to win the grand prize. To win, the team must complete three projects:

• Create a T-shirt with an awareness message that focuses on preventing the use of mobile communication devices behind the wheel


• Create a billboard message that promotes awareness for passenger restrictions


• Create a Facebook "Yearbook" and send letters to national and state legislators to push for stronger GDL laws

For more information about entering the contest or partnering with NOYS, visit: http://www.actoutloud.org/

Labels: driving safety, gdl laws, Graduated Driver Licensing, graduated licensing