Student Videos Aim to Raise Awareness of Driving Safety; Record Number of Students Participate
/The Department of Motor Vehicles and Travelers announced the winning high schools in their jointly sponsored 15th annual Teen Safe Driving Video Contest. The videos focused on educating teens on how to be safer drivers to prevent crashes, injuries and deaths.
WinningFirst place goes to a student team at Weston High School, Haddam-Killingworth High School and Wilton High School.
The DMV-Travelers video contest encourages teens in high schools statewide to think about decisions that could cause a crash in an instant. More than 300 students from 23 schools participated, submitting 140 videos – an increase of 35 percent more entries compared to last year.
The announcement of the winning videos was made recently at the Travelers Insurance headquarters in Hartford at a ceremony to honor all award recipients. This year’s video contest theme was: “Driving Safe Habits.”
DMV 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 – including no friends in the vehicle for the first year a teen is licensed and a nighttime driving curfew of 11 p.m.
“This contest continues to engage teens across the state to highlight the importance of the state’s teen driving laws,” Commissioner Guerrera said. “This year’s videos are thought-provoking, well-produced and showcase the amazing talents of young people who are using their skills to communicate a very important safety message. Thank you to Travelers for co-sponsoring the contest and congratulations to all who participated.”
Travelers awarded the winning students and their high schools over $20,000 in cash and other prizes. For the first place award, Weston High School received $6,000 and the two student winners split $1,250.
“We commend the winning students for the creative ways in which they are helping to educate their peers about the importance of road safety,” said Michael Klein, Executive Vice President and President of Personal Insurance at Travelers. “The impactful messages these students have shared can play a vital role in informing young drivers of the importance of safe driving practices, ultimately working towards our shared goal of creating a better driving environment for all.”
These videos will be used to raise teens’ safety awareness through peer-to-peer conversation. For instance, the Thomaston High School video will be featured in advertising by the state Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Governor’s Highway Safety Office. DOT is a leader in the state in preventative measures to stop distracted driving.
“Young drivers are statistically more likely to be involved in motor vehicle accidents, and that is why getting them involved in initiatives like this that advocate and promote safe driving is so important,” Governor Ned Lamont said. “I want to congratulate all the students who participated and helped spread this important message.”
The contest also made awards to schools for: Use of Connecticut (Wilton High School); Use of Dialogue (Suffield High School); Best Call to Action (Haddam-Killingworth School); Diversity Award (Middletown High School).
View the three top-ranking videos:
First place
Weston High School
Students: Nate Colman and Jonah Rothlein
Watch here: https://youtu.be/uHg4coPkqyc
Second place
Haddam-Killingworth High School
Students: Christopher Palmieri, Mason Mazzotta, Damen Ridgeway and David Sargent
Watch here: https://youtu.be/7VmIs1F8IBw
Third place
Wilton High School
Students: Josh Robins, Niko Tournas and Matt Weiss
Watch here: https://youtu.be/QAL_T7EWMD8
