$15,000 in prize money awarded

ELK GROVE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CaliforniaOfficeOfTrafficSafety?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#CaliforniaOfficeOfTrafficSafetylt;/agt;–The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) announced today the
winners of the inaugural “Go Safely” distracted driving billboard and
video contest for high school students.

Anh Pham and Sophia Nguyen of Westminster High School (Westminster) won
first place and received the most online votes for their video, “If Your
Phone Were A Person.” Brittany Steenbergen of Davis Senior High School
(Davis) won first place for her billboard, “Look Up, Not Down.”

Other video awards included:

• 2nd Place – “Prevented at the Last Second” – Jarod Hagen, Canyon High
  School (Anaheim)
• Honorable Mention – “Driving Isn’t Playtime” – Angela Kim, Gavin
  Nguyen and Mason Li, Portola High School (Irvine)
• Honorable Mention – “Three Life Saving Tips” – David Sloan, North
  Valley Baptist School (Santa Clara)

Other billboard awards included:

• 2nd Place and most online votes – “One Text Away” – Arinchai
  Laohasereekul, Northridge Academy High School (Northridge)
• Honorable Mention – “Your Choice” – Kayla Martinez, Madera High School
  (Madera)
• Honorable Mention – “Be a Hero” – Adrian Cruz, St. Mary’s High School
  (Stockton)

The award for first place winners is $4,000, $2,000 for second place,
$250 for each honorable mention, and $1,000 for the most online votes in
each category. The prize money is provided courtesy of Huddle, a
ticketing company and partner of the OTS.

The contest called on high school students to create a message
encouraging their peers to “go safely” by not driving distracted,
highlighting the dangers of distracted driving.

“We are pleased so many schools and students participated, putting on
their thinking caps to come up with great messages that will resonate
with their peers and hopefully change behaviors,” OTS Director Rhonda
Craft said. “The decision on winners was not easy. All the students who
submitted a billboard design or video should be proud of their work.”

Judging was based on creativity, design, messaging and meeting video and
billboard contest guidelines, such as incorporating the “Go Safely,
California” theme. Thirty-five videos and 85 billboard designs were
submitted from high school students across the state.

Distracted driving remains one of the top traffic safety concerns,
particularly with teens. Distractions, including the use of cell phones
and talking with passengers, accounts for six out of every 10 crashes
among teens. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 9% of all deadly crashes in 2017 were
distraction-related.

Video and billboard entries can be viewed at
gosafelyca.org/billboard-contest and gosafelyca.org/video-contest.

The OTS administers funding for traffic safety programs statewide with
the goal of reducing deaths, injuries, and economic losses. The OTS is a
department under the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA).

Contacts

Tim Weisberg
OTS Marketing and Public Affairs
[email protected]
(916)
509-3020