Nominations Open for Teen, Parent Smart Driving Activists of the Year

The Allstate Foundation will honor each Activist of the Year with a cash prize and/or grant to the traffic safety non-profits of their choice during National Youth Traffic Safety Month in May.

In celebration of National Youth Traffic Safety Month this May, The Allstate Foundation is now accepting nominations for its inaugural Activist of the Year awards. The awards will recognize one teen and one parent who went above and beyond in 2007 to address the issue of teen driving and advocate for a change in the staggering teen driving statistics.

“Teens and parents play important roles in advocating smart driving choices, and we want to reward that spirit of activism,” said Susan Duchak, director of The Allstate Foundation’s teen driving program. “We want to find examples of the most dedicated, creative work teens and parents are doing to address the teen driving issue, and share these efforts throughout the country.”

In 2005, The Allstate Foundation made a long-term commitment to keep teens safer on the road. A key component of the Foundation’s teen driving program is Keep the Drive, a national, teen-led smart driving movement, which harnesses the power of peer influence to educate teens about the issue and empower them to drive safely. Car crashes, the No. 1 killer of teens in America, claim nearly 6,000 teen lives each year-16 teens a day on average. Through the Activist of the Year awards, The Allstate Foundation will honor and reward those working to prevent these tragic, often preventable deaths. The Allstate Foundation will begin accepting submissions for the awards on Monday, March 10, 2008. Anyone can nominate a parent or teen, and teens and parents may nominate themselves by visiting www.TeenDrivingActivist.com. Complete rules and eligibility requirements for the Teen Activist of the Year and Parent Activist of the Year Awards are available at www.TeenDrivingActivist.com

Teen Activist of the Year Details
The Teen Activist of the Year Award is designed to recognize and reward teens for encouraging smart driving activities completed in 2007.

Nominations will be judged on creativity, originality and number of teens positively impacted by a nominee’s efforts. The winner will be notified in May during National Youth Traffic Safety Month. In addition to a $10,000 cash prize for themselves, the winning teen will designate a $5,000 grant to a nonprofit organization of their choice which supports or promotes teen safe driving. Statistics on teen driving highlight the complexity of this issue and illustrate the need for dedicated teen activists. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, per-mile driven, teens are involved in four times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers, and two out of three teens who die as passengers are in vehicles driven by other teenagers.

Parent Activist of the Year Details
Similar to the Teen Activist of the Year Awards, the Parent Activist of the Year Award will recognize a parent who has gone above and beyond to promote the importance of safe driving to teens, other parents or their community. The winning parent will designate a $10,000 grant, to a non-profit organization of their choice which supports or promotes teen safe driving.

“According to a national survey of teen driving attitudes and behaviors conducted by The Allstate Foundation, teens say that their parents have the greatest influence on their driving,” Duchak said. “We’re looking to honor and reward parents who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to keeping teens safer on the road.”

Additional information on teen driving, including tips for parents on positively impacting their teen drivers, is available at www.ProtectTeenDrivers.com.

About Keep the Drive
Keep the Drive is a national teen-led smart driving movement funded by The Allstate Foundation. It educates teens about the issue, impacts the way they think and act in the car and empowers them to become smart driving activists in their schools and communities. For more information, visit www.KeeptheDrive.com.