LAFAYETTE PARISH — Ron Czajkowski, the Transportation Safety Coordinator with Destination Zero Death Acadiana sat down with KATC about their ongoing Safety Campaign Buckle Up, Phone Down. It is representative of both a pledge and a video contest for Louisiana high school students.
KATC has all the details on how to enter and the monetary prizes for the winning schools.
Ron says there are actually very few entries currently, so students are encouraged to enter. He says they hope to see creativity, and the students having fun with it, but taking the topic seriously as well.
Buckle Up, Phone Down has a goal to "help inspire others to make safe choices every time they are in vehicle."
According to Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS) over the last 5 years, 4,079 people were injured or killed within Louisiana as a result of distracted driving. To help combat that, students are encouraged to make original distracted driving and buckling up safety videos, and submit them to win the contest.
Here are the official rules:
- The contest is open to Louisiana students in 9th - 12th grades at the date of entry submission
- School Sponsored student groups such as teams and clubs may enter
- Content must contain an original distracted driving and buckling up safety message
- Students must include the QR code at the end of their video to direct viewers to the "Buckle Up, Phone Down" pledge page. Videos must also include a call-to-action statement request that viewers scan the code and take the pledge.
- Content must obey copyright laws and not contain offensive language or dangerous content.
- Video may be between 30 seconds and two minutes in length, and it must be 25 MB or less. If you film, from a smartphone, shoot footage horizontally.
Prize Categories:
- 1st Place: $5,000
- 2nd Place: $3,500
- 3rd Place: $1,500
The prize money will be issued to the school, with the funds to be used for any transportation safety improvement the school would prefer. Ron says suggestions are things such as: new orange cones, repainting the lining in parking lots, better travel signage, things of that nature.
How to Enter:
- Complete and submit one Entry Form, one Content Release Form, and Photo Release Form for each person appearing in video, and video a link supplied on the official website
- Full information provided on the link below
This provides a great opportunity for students to get creative, work on a safety initiative, and bring in funding for their school.
For full contest information, to see previous winning videos, and find submission links you can go to here
