Sudbury Student Wins AAA's Video Contest

SUDBURY, MA—Cali Schineller, a 16 year-old student in Sudbury, Massachusetts, has won first place in the high school division of the AAA Northeast’s Traffic Safety Message Contest, announced AAA on Friday.

For more than 60 years, AAA’STraffic Safety Poster & Video Contest has reached out to students to create a poster or public service announcement to educate their peers on matters related to traffic safety. Students submit their work involving: playing away from traffic, proper use of car and booster seats, school bus safety, pedestrian safety and night time visibility, bike safety and helmet use. High school students are asked to focus on messages pertaining to the dangers of impaired driving, safety belt use, speeding and distracted driving.

Hundreds of submissions from K-12 students from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were received during the 2017 contest. Cali created a memorable and moving PSA depicting the dangers and consequences of distracted driving, particularly texting and driving, culminates with a dog crossing into the street in front of a distracted driver, leading to horrific consequences. Her own Golden Retriever, Mazie, as well as her older sister, Molly starred in the video. As a new driver, Cali said, “I realize I need to be very attentive and keep my cell phone out of reach when I’m driving. The goal of my video was to remind individuals that when they drive distracted it is not simply themselves who are affected but rather all those around them.”

This message is particularly pertinent for high school aged students: “In the 100 days following Memorial Day, crash rates for teen drivers increase by 16 percent, averaging 10 fatal crashes per day. These are timely and important messages we hope will be shared via social media to impact young drivers,” said Diana Imondi Dias, AAA’s Traffic Safety Programs Manager.

The winning messages were judged based on originality, technique, visual impact and relationship of messaging to traffic safety by a panel at AAA Northeast. The finalists were posted to the AAA website and the public could vote during a seven-day period to choose the winners.

Motor vehicle crashes continue to be leading cause of death for young adults and children over age two; AAA’s goal is to share the importance of developing safe practices from a young age. These messages are targeted to young people, created by young people. The winning artwork can be viewed at www.AAA.com/trafficsafetymatters .

Information and photos submitted by AAA