In our campaign for driving safety, one of our strongest partners is the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS). The exceptional young people who make up NOYS are tireless safety advocates who have been enthusiastic participants in our fight to end distracted driving.
To train and empower even more youth leaders to help address this important safety issue, NOYS will host its 2011 Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, DC, on October 17, and they are looking for young people who want to participate.
NOYS believes that effective prevention programs for teens should be teen-led and teen-informed. And, on this particular issue, peer-to-peer communication is especially important. In 2009, the highest proportion of distracted drivers in fatal crashes was under the age of 20.
Summit participants will learn all about the most current distracted driving research, and about how to use a wide range of communication tools to persuade drivers to hang up their phones when they get behind the wheel.
After the summit, participants become safety ambassadors, applying what they learned. They'll create programs to bring back to their schools and communities to help reduce distracted driving among their peers.
Ending the deadly epidemic of distracted driving will be no easy task. But I am confident that the young leaders who join the NOYS summit will be prepared for the sustained effort solving this problem requires.
Space at this summit is limited, so if you would like to be considered, please submit your information to info@noys.org.
If you’re a young person involved in distracted driving prevention, please consider applying. And if you know other teens who want to make a difference on this important safety issue, please encourage them to apply today!
NOYS activists with US Sen. Amy Klobuchar during 2011 National Youth Traffic Safety Month
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