It’s time once again for a national public service advertising and scholarship contest against texting and driving. Prominent leaders from the advertising industry have teamed up with Project Yellow Light to raise awareness of the growing problem of distracted driving, mainly from texting while driving among teens. The reason for the contest hits close to home for Project Yellow Light founder, Julie Garner. She and her family created the group after Julie’s son was killed in a car crash at the age of 16.
The winning submissions are turned in to public service announcements and displayed on billboards around the nation with the help of Clear Channel Outdoor. It’s part of Project Yellow Light’s “Stop the texts, Stop the Wrecks” campaign. Julie believes that safety messages designed by other teens are the best way to reach that age group. The President and CEO of the Ad Council, Lisa Sherman, agrees. Sherman says, “The power of Project Yellow Light is in in its peer-to-peer approach of engaging creative young adults around the issue of texting and driving.” She adds, “We hope that by reaching out to teens in their own words, we can reduce the crashes caused by distracted driving.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed and an estimated 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. The NHTSA says that teenagers are most likely to be distracted at the time of the crash, and 9% of all drivers ages 15-19 were reported as distracted at the time of the crash.
The deadline has passed for billboard art submissions, but the contest for radio and video submissions is open until April 1. For more details on the rules and how to enter, you can visit projectyellowlight.com