The Indiana Regional Highway Safety Project at Indiana University of Pennsylvania will host its thirteenth annual safe driving competition for high school students on April 23, 2010, at the IUP Highway Safety Center.
The Indiana Regional Safe Driving Competition is a partnership with Armstrong-Indiana Intermediate Unit 28.
High schools in Armstrong and Indiana counties are invited to select a team of three students to represent their schools at the competition. The program involves a demonstration of skill on a driving range, in a perceptual driving test, and by writing an essay related to highway safety.
Registered schools to date from Armstrong County are Apollo-Ridge, Ford City, Kittanning, and West Shamokin. Registered Indiana County schools are Blairsville, Indiana, Indiana County Technology Center, Marion Center, Penns Manor, Purchase Line, Saltsburg, and United.
“Our purpose for these competitions is to highlight positive teen driver behaviors and also to reward those students who remain crash and citation free,” Sandra Toy, Highway Safety Project and competition coordinator, said. “Licensed juniors and seniors have to qualify by having a clean driving record and achieving one of the top three scores of a pre-qualifying test given at their high school.”
All participants will receive a T-shirt, Sheetz gas card, and emergency vehicle kit and will be treated to a catered awards luncheon at the University Lodge.
Financial support is provided by State Farm Insurance Company and the Armstrong/Indiana Drug and Alcohol Commission. AAA is supplying trophies for the individual winners, and the Highway Safety Project will sponsor a teen-driver challenge program for the winning school.
Local law enforcement agents and district court judges will act as judges for the driving range. Volunteer representatives from the State Farm Insurance Group, the Intermediate Unit, the Drug and Alcohol Commission, the Indiana Regional Highway Safety Project, and the Pennsylvania Motor Trucking Association will help with the other portions of the event.
Three winners from this year's competition will be invited to participate in the Pennsylvania Motor Trucking Association's eleventh annual Pennsylvania Safe Driving Competition for Youth in May. Participants from around the state will compete for a share of $10,000 in scholarships from the Pennsylvania Motor Trucking Association and for recognition as one of the best young drivers in Pennsylvania.
For more information about registering for this event, interested students should check with their high school office. For information about the competition, contact Toy at 724-357-4877 or by e-mail at stoy@iup.edu.