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Toyota Turns to Students to Fight Distracted Driving

When handheld communication devices became popular, another significant addition has been made to the roster of causes that lead to car crashes: distracted driving.
Toyota awards  TeenDrive365 Video Challenge winners 11 photos
Photo: Toyota
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Both authorities and automakers have been fighting this issue for over a decade now, but with limited success. The problem, it seems, is that too much is done to enforce banning of smartphone use while behind the wheel and too little to educate drivers to pay attention to the road while driving.

Toyota decided a while back to try and educate young drivers on this subject by making them part of the Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge, a national driver safety public service announcement competition (PSA).

The carmaker says it has received since the 2018 campaign began more than 1,300 videos from students who try to inspire safe driving habits. The ultimate goal of the competition is to “spark a national conversation about staying safe behind the wheel.”

Of the videos submitted, Toyota selected that of two high school seniors from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina. For their efforts, the two, Kirklin Hopkins and Kellen Stadler, received from Toyota $15,000 and the opportunity to transform their video into a TV-ready PSA. The TV spots would be shot together with Discovery Education.

“We are very proud of the powerful video storytelling by Mack and Kellen,” said Dr. Clayton Wilcox, superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

“It drives home the dangers of texting and driving in a dramatic, effective way. As a national PSA, it could save lives by showing what happens when you text and drive.”

Aside for the winners of this year’s competition, an additional six finalists will receive $2,500 each, while four regional winners will get a $1,000 prize.

The videos that have been declared finalists can be viewed at the following link. Below is the video that received the grand prize this year.

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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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