Erie Insurance Will Award $20,00 In Cash and Prizes in Teen Driver Awareness Contest

ERIE, PA -- Sept. 18, 2014: According to the most recent data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 16-19-year-olds are three times more likely to die in car crashes than people 20 and older. And car crashes remain the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S.

Analysis by Erie Insurance shows how individual states compare in terms of teen risk, including the deadliest days and months.

To help reduce car crashes involving teens, Erie Insurance is holding its third annual contest to encourage teens to share safe driving tips and to discourage their peers from engaging in dangerous driving behaviors. The contest awards a total of $20,000 in cash and prizes to teens and their schools for sharing the safe driving message.

Here's how the contest works:

Teens log on to Join the Shift to learn safe driving habits that will keep them and their friends safe behind the wheel. They earn points through activities such as signing a pledge to be a safe driver, creating safe-driver videos, and posting Shift safe driving messages on Facebook® and Twitter®. The teens and schools with the most points are awarded prizes. The contest ends Monday, Nov. 17. For complete contest rules including how points are awarded and how school scores are determined, visit Join the Shift.

According to A.M. Best Company, Erie Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is the 11th largest homeowners insurer and 12th largest automobile insurer in the United States based on direct premiums written and the 16th largest property/casualty insurer in the United States based on total lines net premium written. The Group, rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company, has nearly 4.9 million policies in force and operates in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Erie Insurance Group is a FORTUNE 500 and Barron's 500 company. Erie Insurance is proud to have received the J.D. Power award for "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with the Auto Insurance Purchase Experience" two years in a row. ERIE has also been recognized by Forbes as one of America's 50 Most Trustworthy Financial Companies and is on the list of Ward's 50 Group of top performing insurance companies, which analyzes the financial performance of 3,000 property and casualty companies and recognizes the top performers for achieving outstanding results in safety, consistency and financial performance over a five-year period (2009-2013).

News releases and more information about Erie Insurance Group are available at Erie Insurance.