Virginia teens offered chance to win $300 with safe driving jingle

Virginia teens are being encouraged to jingle their way to a safe holiday by creating a safe driving song or tune for a statewide competition and a chance to win $300.

The Jingle Your Way to a Safe Holiday: Buckle Up and Celebrate Responsibly Campaign kicks off this week across the Commonwealth with a goal to keep teen drivers and passengers safe during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

The campaign, sponsored by Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety (YOVASO), the Virginia State Police (VSP), State Farm, and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), is an effort to reduce teen fatalities during what has become a high-risk period for young drivers.

Over the past three years during the month of December, 14 teens aged 15 to 20 have died in motor vehicle crashes in the Commonwealth and 1,797 were injured, according to statistics from DMV. During the same time period, young drivers aged 15-20 accounted for 6,192 crashes and 15 fatal crashes in the Commonwealth during the month of December. Many of the fatalities occurred when teens were on break for the Christmas holiday.

The new, virtual campaign will run for six-weeks on social media to encourage teens to buckle up and celebrate and drive safely throughout the holidays. The jingle competition is open to Virginia youth ages 11-20 and involves developing a safe driving jingle (short song or tune) that promotes traffic safety and the holiday campaign theme. Submitted jingles must be in video format and no more than 30 seconds in length.

Submissions are due to YOVASO by Dec. 10 at 5 p.m. The top five jingles as selected by YOVASO staff, will be open to public voting on social media during the week of Dec. 14-18. The winning jingle will be announced on Dec. 21 and will run on social media throughout the week of Christmas.

In addition to the top prize of $300, the four runner ups will receive $100.

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