Announcing! …

                                         Announcing!

                             U.S. Department of Transportation
                            National Youth Traffic Safety Month
                       Rural Youth Traffic Safety Message Competition

For National Youth Traffic Safety Month the U. S. Department of Transportation is
sponsoring a cooperative agreement through National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS)
for a National Rural Youth Traffic Safety Message Competition.

School or community supported youth organizations are eligible to compete. Youth-led teams
from school or community based organizations are encouraged to develop a rural youth traffic
safety message campaign to include a tagline or theme about rural youth traffic safety, design
the message for poster, print advertisements, video, and/or radio and use the message campaign
in a community rural youth traffic safety project.

                                    Prizes Include:
                                       $500 stipend
               Awarded to Top Ten Finalist Teams to Implement Their Project

                                   First Place: $5,000
                      To the Winning Youth Team's Local Organization

                                  Second Place: $2,000
                     To the Runner-Up Youth Team's Local Organization

                                   Third Place: $1,000
                 To the Second Runner-Up Youth Team's Local Organization

       All top three teams will also win a trip for their advisor and one youth to come to
            Washington, DC in December 2008 for a special award ceremony at the
                             U. S. Department of Transportation!




         How to enter: Visit here for details and register by June 30, 2008
Important Deadlines Include:

        Applications are due June 30, 2008

        Top ten teams will be announced in July

        Teams implement messaging campaign in local community projects August ­ October

        Final reports on message campaign project submitted to NOYS by November 7

        Winners announced November 25

        Winners attend award ceremony in Washington, DC in December

        Winning message campaign is implemented in 2009 National Youth Traffic Safety Month



Did You Know?

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year-olds. In 2006, 3,490 15 to 20
year-old drivers were killed and an additional 272,000 were injured in crashes.
According to the 2006 Census, less than one-quarter of the U. S. population lives in rural areas;
however, rural fatalities account for more than half of all traffic fatalities. The fatality rate in rural
areas is nearly two and one-half times higher than that of urban areas.
Nearly one-third of the 15 to 20 year-old drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes during
2006 had been drinking.

Seat belt use rates are lower among young people in rural areas. While seat belt use in urban and
suburban areas is as high as 84 and 85 percent, use in rural areas is just 78 percent. Seat belt use in
pick-up trucks is especially low ­ at just 72 percent.

Rural drivers in 2006 made up 62 percent of total drivers found to have been drinking, speeding, and
unrestrained.
Seat belt use among young drivers and passengers is the lowest of any age group, about 5 percentage
points lower than the national average.