TDS News

4/30/10

Teens Drive Smart Rallies With Oprah On The First-Ever National No Phone Zone Day

The Friday, April 30, The Oprah Winfrey Show was a special live episode devoted to ending distracted driving. And the Teens Drive Smart team was in on the action in-person, live-tweeting and photographing the entire event!

Oprah became involved in the movement to end distracted driving early in 2010 with an episode she called “America’s New Deadly Obsession,” which ended with her imploring all people to make their vehicles safer by signing her No Phone Zone Pledge. The live April 30 event took the movement to the next level, with Oprah launching a new public service campaign and joining with some of the country’s preeminent transportation safety organizations to declare April 30 the first National No Phone Zone Day.

Teens Drive Smart rallied with host and friend-of-Oprah Gayle King, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, local news anchor Leon Harris and others at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., one of five cities broadcasting live for the first-ever National No Phone Zone Day. Teens Drive Smart’s Angela Patterson Sikes and Kyle Butts even had a chance to briefly introduce TeensDriveSmart.com to Secretary LaHood.

TDS News

5/01/10

SADD Conference

Teens Drive Smart joined Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) at its national conference in Orlando, Fla. TDS had the opportunity to talk with more than 600 students and hear their ideas on tackling the distracted driving issue in their schools and communities. Do you have an idea? Let us know here.

TDS News

5/15/10

FCCLA National Leadership Conference

Teens Drive Smart celebrated the Fourth of July with a real bang! TDS was at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) National Leadership Conference in Chicago on July 4-8. Angela Patterson Sikes was able to meet with students in a small group setting to discuss how to avoid distracted driving.

TDS News

9/02/10

Just don’t answer it

Teens Drive Smart attended the 2010 Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, D.C., on September 21. The one-day event brought together the country’s

government leaders, safety advocates, family members of victims and business groups to discuss ways of reducing distracted driving. And we can confidently say: we’re getting there. But we need your help.

“Every time someone takes their focus off the road - even if it’s just for a moment - they put their lives and the lives of others in danger,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Grab your parents, neighbors, friends and teachers and sign a contract today.

In the past year, 11 states banned texting and driving. So what did Teens Drive Smart do in the past year? Check out our some of our favorite highlights: Teen 2 Teen, Parent 2 Teen, Teacher 2 Teen, state driving laws map. Can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

TDS News

10/01/10

Mississippi SADD Officer Training

Teens Drive Smart kicked off our autumn tour with a presentation at the Mississippi SADD chapter’s officer training event in Jackson, Miss., on Oct. 21. Students had the chance to experience our fun, informative Quiz Bowl Extravaganza as well as win $100 gas cards!

TDS News

10/02/10

Teens Drive Smart & Firestone Indy Lights Tackle Distracted Driving

Recently Hundreds of Carroll County high school students learned about the biggest threat facing them behind the wheel: simple distractions. Teens Drive Smart presented by Bridgestone teamed up with race car drivers from Firestone Indy Lights, the official driver development series of the IZOD IndyCar Series, to share the important message of staying focused on the road and eliminating everyday distractions, such as cell phones, text messages and additional passengers.

“Our students’ safety is our top concern,” said John Leeper, Principal, Carroll County High School. “Bridgestone Americas offered us the opportunity to remind students to not only focus on their studies, but their driving as well. Teens Drive Smart provides the resources, tools and forum to help all of us teach our kids safe driving habits.”

The presentation tested students’ knowledge of Kentucky’s driving laws and also illustrated the differences between driving on a racetrack and road. Students had the opportunity to meet three of the race car drivers who were in town for Saturday’s Firestone Indy Lights Buckle-up Kentucky 100 race and IZOD IndyCar Series Kentucky Indy 300.

Check out the full album on our facebook page.

TDS News

1/01/11

And the winner is. . .

Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 Road Show Rally contest!

GRAND PRIZE
Maypearl High School, Maypearl, Texas

FIRST RUNNER UP
Hargrave High School, Huffman, Texas

watch the video

SECOND RUNNER UP
Melba High School, Melba, Idaho

watch the video

The winning schools will be hearing from us soon, so keep an eye on your phones! All the videos we received during the contest were fantastic. So many of you had great stories to share and reasons for needing the Road Show Rally to come to your school. While we won’t be able to bring our presentation to everyone, that doesn’t mean you can’t take matters into your own hands!

Check out our Teacher2Teen and Teen2Teen pages to see what you can do on your own to spread the safe driving message in your area!

TDS News

3/07/11

Tennessee Association of Student Councils (TASC) 2011 State Convention

Teens Drive Smart kicked off its 2011 tour with a trip to the TASC 2011 State Convention on March 25. Not only did the teens that participated in the Teens Drive Smart Pit Stops learn a thing or two about the dangers of distracted driving, but they were also entered to win a $100 gas card just for being there. Not too shabby, huh?

The Teens Drive Smart Team set two main goals for the Pit Stop participants:

1. Understand that the safety of teen drivers and the dangers of distracted driving are urgent issues, and
2. Take action and share that message back home in your family and community, and maybe even with teens across the U.S.

You can access all the materials we set up for the TASC students at this link here. These materials include conversation starters, a customizable PowerPoint Jeopardy presentation with driver safety questions, the Teens Drive Smart D.I.Y. tool kit, and much, much more!

TDS News

2/13/12

Reducing teen traffic accidents

Driving with a couple of friends in the car can triple a teen’s risk for a fatal crash. That’s the reason behind tough teen driving laws in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Both states put some limits on passengers in the cars of new drivers and Pennsylvania beefed up its rules in late December.

read more

TDS News

2/16/12

Winners Selected In Bridgestone Americas Annual Safety Scholars Teen Driver Video Contest

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 2, 2011)—Three college students now have some additional tuition money, thanks to their winning video submissions in the Bridgestone Americas Safety Scholars Contest.

Amber Cullen of Akron, Ohio, took home the $10,000 grand prize for her video, “The Phone Bandit.” Robert Mai of Newport Beach, Calif. and Everett, Wash. native Matthew Robertson won second and third place, respectively, for their videos; they each received $5,000 in the national safe driving competition, now in its fifth year.

The three winning videos beat out almost 1,500 other entries from 16-21 year-olds across the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec) to become one of the 10 finalists. They then secured the most votes from the public to win the grand prize. Nearly 10,000 votes were cast on www.safetyscholars.com to determine the winners. The three winners and all top ten finalists’ videos can be viewed on the website.

“This year’s winning videos prove that young drivers are passionate about teen driver safety,” said Angela Patterson Sikes, digital media coordinator, Community and Corporate Relations, Bridgestone Americas, who also manages the company’s teen driver safety initiatives. “These videos contain compelling messages that speak directly to the dangerous distractions young drivers face. Sharing these messages with both new and experienced drivers and motorists will help make the roads safer for everyone.”

In addition to receiving a college scholarship and a free set of Bridgestone brand tires, the three winners have the chance to have their video broadcast as a public service announcement (PSA) on television stations across the United States. These PSAs are supported by Bridgestone Americas in cooperation with Driver’s Edge, an independent, non-profit hands-on safe driving course that’s offered free of charge to teens in select U.S. cities.  The 2010 Safety Scholars PSAs have aired more than 27,000 times on TV and cable stations across the United States, reaching an audience of more than 434 million viewers.

About the winners:

Amber Cullen is beginning her sophomore year at Bowling Green State University, where she is studying film production.  Her video, “The Phone Bandit,” takes a humorous approach to texting behind the wheel.  Her “super hero” runs through the streets stopping people from texting while they’re driving.

Robert Mai of Newport Beach, Calif., won second place.  Robert is beginning his freshman year at Chapman University in Orange County.  His video, “The Year of Driving Dangerously,” used over-the-top distractions as a way to demonstrate there are plenty of things that can take your attention away from the road.

Matthew Robertson of Everett, Wash., took third place with his video “The Law Encouragement Officer.”  He will attend Biola University to study film production.  His fictitious “law encouragement officer” stopped drivers for obeying traffic safety laws, but with the purpose of encouraging them to keep it up.

About Bridgestone Americas, Inc.:
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM) is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BSAM and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies are also engaged in retreading operations throughout the Western Hemisphere and produce air springs, roofing materials, and industrial fibers and textiles. The BSAM family of companies also operates the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and service centers. Guided by its One Team, One Planet message, the company is dedicated to achieving a positive environmental impact in all of the communities it calls home.