A partnership between a charitable nonprofit and a membership association is using the association’s expertise alongside teens’ creativity to promote safe driving.

Since 2009 the National Road Safety Foundation has used various partners to help support its Drive2Life PSA contest, where teens around the United States are invited to write scripts promoting driver safety. Creators of the winning submissions are invited to collaborate with professional filmmakers on a PSA that airs nationally. 

“Around 16 years ago we had the idea that instead of us making the PSAs, let’s get young people involved,” said David Reich, an NRSF spokesperson. “Let’s get their ideas and use their ideas to make a professionally done PSA, but from the teen’s point of view.”

ADTSEAs provide expertise in the judging process, and also develops lesson plans based around the theme.

Over the years, NRSF has partnered with different groups to promote the contest, including the nonprofit National Organizations for Youth Safety and the children’s-book publisher Scholastic. Two years ago, however, it began partnering with the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association, which represents driving teachers and driving schools. For this year’s contest, which promotes the theme of sharing the road, NRSF relied on ADTSEA to provide expertise in the judging process, and also to develop lesson plans based around the theme.

“ADTSEA offers a direct line into the teacher community, because they are the driver-ed teachers, they’re the ones who have the kids in the classroom and can tell them about this contest and can use this as part of their lesson plan,” said Reich, who is also a member of the ADTSEA board. “So they’ve got access to the classroom and the kids, which is very important, because we don’t have that on our own. They’re the experts in driver education. We’re not.”

Though ADTSEA uses its time and resources to develop the lesson plan for the contest, NRSF handles the expenses for much of it, including the prize money: The winning student will receive $2,000, and two runners up will receive $500 each; teachers of all three winners will receive $100 gift cards. In addition, NRSF pays for winners’ travel to consult with the PSA director, and handles production costs for the PSA itself. It also provides honoraria for the submission judges, made up of NRSF staff and ADTSEA member teachers. 

Though the number of submissions is down from the contest’s pre-COVID highs of around 1,800, the judges will still have hundreds to sift through after the submission period ends on March 21. The winning PSA will air through the month of May on the program Teen Kids News, which is syndicated on 170 stations nationally. Runners-up will have their videos shared on the NRSF website.

“It’s a win-win situation, I think, both for the National Road Safety Foundation and for ADTSEA,” Reich said. “We’re both trying to accomplish the same thing, and that is to educate young people to be safe drivers and reduce traffic crashes and traffic fatalities. This is how we do it together.”

[istock/NickyLloyd]