BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is pleased to announce entries are now being accepted for the eighth annual statewide high school video contest:  Safe Streets Smart Trips.  

 

The contest, which began in 2014, encourages high school students to showcase their understanding of roadway safety across all travel modes to try to decrease pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities. The contest serves as an initiative of the Massachusetts Strategic Highway Safety Plan to promote safe walking, bicycling, and driving behaviors within the Commonwealth.

 

"We look forward to seeing the videos created by high school students to raise awareness about how to stay safe when walking, bicycling and driving," said Transportation Secretary and CEO Jamey Tesler. "Each year, students from across the state have used humor, facts and real-life incidents to underscore how all of us have to do our part to reduce injuries and deaths on the roads.  Our streets can be safer if drivers focus on the road ahead and put away mobile devices, if pedestrians use crosswalks, if bicyclists obey traffic laws and if we all practice behaviors that put safety first."

 

The video contest, which is open to all Massachusetts high school students, features a freshman/sophomore category and junior/senior category. Per contest guidelines, this year students are being asked to write and produce a 30-60 second video that focuses on being a "bike-friendly" driver.

 

Being a "bike-friendly" driver means sharing the road with bicyclists, understanding bicycle road markings, knowing the rules of the road, and being aware and respectful of bicyclists.

 

Complete contest guidelines were sent to high schools today, September 10, and can also be found at Mass.gov/roadway-safety-video. Students are required to strictly follow COVID-19 social distancing guidelines and health/safety precautions while making contest videos.

 

MassDOT will host a virtual informational session for educators on Monday, Sept. 13, to help answer any contest questions. 

 

Educators can register for the informational session at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEscu2spjkuGNTEpDRFFQM3FdC-Uoakcjnr. 

 

Grand prize, runner-up, and honorable mention videos in each category (Freshman/Sophomore and Junior/Senior) will be chosen by a MassDOT panel. Winning videos will be shown this fall at MassDOT's annual active transportation conference, Moving Together, where the creators will receive their prizes including $600 Amazon gift cards for the grand prize videos and $300 Amazon gift cards for the runner-up videos. Top videos may also be used in future safety campaigns.

 

To learn more about the Safe Streets Smart Trips high school video contest visit Mass.gov/roadway-safety-video or call 857-383-3807.

 

To register for the Safe Streets Smart Trips Information Session visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEscu2spjkuGNTEpDRFFQM3FdC-Uoakcjnr