Highlighting Virginia DMV’s Distracted Driving Competition to Design a New Plate

Every year, distracted driving claims hundreds of lives on the highways of America. We were pleased to read about Virginia DMV’s distracted driving competition in which students are being asked to design a new plate.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is asking Virginia students to design a new license plate. Entrants don’t have to be old enough to drive, reported WAVY.com.

Virginia DMV’s distracted driving competition is open to all Virginia high school students in grades 9-12, irrespective of whether you go to public, private, parochial school or are homeschooled.

The theme of the competition is “Take Action Against Distraction.” The DMV wants to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving with its new plate.

The lure of checking smartphones at the wheel is strongest among young people. Last year, 13 Virginians were killed and more than 800 were injured in crashes involving a distracted teen driver, reported WAVY.

DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb said in a news release:

“We are excited about this contest and look forward to seeing the creative designs we receive from students. More importantly, we’re excited the contest will get high school students throughout Virginia talking about this issue. It’s about raising awareness of distracted driving, discouraging distracted driving, and most importantly, it’s about saving lives.”

To enter the competition simply got the DMV’s website and submit your design before December 15.

A panel of judges will consider the entries and narrow them to the top eight finalists. The public will get the final vote. The grand prize winner will be announced in April next year.

The winner of the competition will receive $1,000, and his or her design will appear on an actual license plate that Virginians can purchase for their vehicles beginning next summer. We hope to see plenty of these plates on the roads to raise awareness to this terrible problem.

Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers is launching a Distracted Driving Awareness Scholarship in 2018. We will be awarding three scholarships worth $2,000 each to students in their last year at high school who have the offer of a place at a university of a college. Applicants will submit a project on how distracted driving should be tackled.

The scholarship program is open to students in Tidewater and on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers at (757) 333-3333.