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NHTSA, Project Yellow Light, Mazda Motorsports, NOYS, and the Ad Council Opens Fourth Annual Anti-Distracted Driving Video Competition


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WASHINGTON -- Oct. 31, 2014: Today the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Project Yellow Light, Mazda Motorsports, the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) and the Ad Council opened their Project Yellow Light contest to high school and college students nationwide. The goal is to challenge students to create a short video to convince their peers to not drive distracted. The contest will be judged by musical sensation Aloe Blacc, renowned filmmaker and social activist Kweku Mandela, President, Sparkling Brands and Strategic Marketing, Wendy Clark and Co-Chairman of Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Jeff Goodby.

Established in 2007, Project Yellow Light is a video contest and scholarship program established by Julie Garner, of The Martin Agency, in memory of her teenage son Hunter Garner who was killed in a car crash that year. Project Yellow Light was developed to encourage young adults to be safe when taking on the road. The contest allows students to create their own videos with the chance to win a college scholarship and have their short film turned into an Ad Council public service advertisement (PSA) and distributed to over 1,600 TV stations nationwide. Scholarships are made possible by the generosity of Mazda Motorsports.

"Mazda Motorsports is proud to continue our partnership with Project Yellow Light," said John M. Doonan - Director, Mazda Motorsports, "Our young Mazda racers have actively embraced the program and have become local ambassadors for the cause in their hometowns. It's great to have a young professional racer using their expertise for teen-to-teen mentoring."

The main objective for this scholarship competition is to not only give a creative outlet to high school and college students, but to also educate this group of young drivers on the dangers of distracted driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2012, 10% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted. Additionally, a survey conducted by DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that 20 percent of young drivers ages 18 to 20 years old said sending text messages or e-mails did not affect how well they drove.

"There's positive momentum and energy building with Project Yellow Light and we're looking forward to a wonderful new batch of films this year," said Julie Garner, founder of Project Yellow Light, "Students have a brilliant way of expressing, connecting and impacting positive change to distracted driving through their videos."

The winners of this year's PSA contest will be announced in May 2015.

"NOYS is honored to partner with Project Yellow Light again this year to encourage creative solutions by of our nation's youth in raising awareness about distracted driving," said Anita Boles, NOYS CEO.

"Distracted driving is a critical issue facing our nation's youngest drivers," said Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council. "Peer to peer communication is one of the most effective ways to reach this particular target, which is what makes the Project Yellow Light PSAs so powerful."

For more details on timing, judging criteria and a full list of rules and regulations, visit Project Yellow Light .