Warren County High School Students Promote Teen Driver Safety in Contest

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (Oct. 19, 2016) – The Warren County Safe Communities Coalition, through support from State Farm®, challenged area high school students to create a public service announcement billboard to educate their peers about teen driver safety.

Coalition members—which include Atrium Medical Center, Warren County law enforcement agencies, local government agencies and Ohio State Highway Patrol—reviewed 14 submissions and selected a design by Bishop Fenwick student James Gilbert for the $500 first place prize. Gilbert’s winning design is being displayed on billboards along Interstate 75 in Middletown and Monroe; Springboro Pike in Miami Twp.; and at Atrium Tower Gardens, an electronic outdoor sign located near the intersection of Ohio 122 and North Union Road. His image, encouraging teen drivers to put their cell phones down, is running during National Teen Driver Safety Week, Oct. 16 to 22, 2016.

The billboard ranked second place by the Coalition was designed by Ryan Teeters of Waynesville High School and is also displayed on electronic signs in Middletown. Teeters received a $250 prize. Teens shouldn’t let anything hold them back except for a seatbelt, says Teeters’ image.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in teens, ahead of all other types of injury, disease or violence, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2014, 2,679 teen passenger vehicle drivers ages 15 to 19 were involved in fatal vehicle crashes, resulting in 3,004 deaths nationally. 

The five most dangerous and deadly driving factors for teenagers identified by the federal government are: alcohol, lack of seat belt use, distracted driving, speeding and extra passengers.

“Warren County Safe Communities Coalition, formed in 2010, promotes traffic safety year-round, but wanted to run this contest for teen drivers to encourage each other to drive safe to prevent tragic accidents that affect families and other members of local communities,” said Mandy Wells, coordinator for the Coalition and trauma outreach manager for Atrium Medical Center.

Follow Warren County Safe Communities Coalition online. 

Atrium Medical Center is a full-service hospital and Level III Trauma Center located conveniently along the Interstate 75 corridor at exit 32, One Medical Center Drive in Middletown, between Cincinnati and Dayton. The hospital is the city of Middletown’s second largest employer of more than 1,500 people in full-time, part-time and on-call positions. Atrium is operated by the Dayton-based nonprofit Premier Health system.

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