To submit school announcements, click on image.
Area high school students have a chance to compete in the second annual state roadway safety education contest, “Look Both Ways,” and possibly win $3,000 for road safety education at their school.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, working with the Madrid, Spain-based nonprofit Fundación MAPFRE, invites students to prepare a public service announcement to air in the spring before prom and graduation season online and on television. Look Both Ways aims to eliminate road-related fatalities and serious injury, connecting high schools and colleges with the program’s “React Challenge.” The mobile interactive virtual reality station tests students’ safe driving ability when faced with distractions behind the wheel.
Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt said, “Getting young drivers involved in safety education is an important action towards making our streets safer, and we are eager to see the great ideas that students come up with this year. Their participation is important in helping MassDOT to envision a future without roadway injuries and deaths.”
The deadline for contest submissions is Friday, March 29, at 5 p.m. There is an online application here.
According to the Massachusetts Strategic Highway Safety Plan, roadway deaths in Massachusetts reached a 14-year high in 2021 with 413 deaths, increasing year-over-year since 2019. Nationally, roadway fatalities increased in the early times of COVID-19, and the 2023 national early estimates are also trending down. In the last five years, people walking and biking accounted for almost 22% of deaths on Massachusetts roadways.