Toyota and Teen Vogue Partner Up for Teen Safe Driving Contest

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What goes together better than peanut butter and jelly, gear heads and fast cars, or warm weather and baseball? As popular as all these things are, they're trumped by teenage girls and smartphones. According to a study done by Huffington Post in 2012, the average 12-17 year old girl sends 100 texts a day! When you also consider the fact that roughly 58 percent of teenagers own a smartphone, it's no surprise that so many awareness and safety campaigns of late have been focused on the arch enemy of every parent out there, distracted driving. Whether it's getting behind the wheel while tired, eating, or texting, Toyota is one of the automakers that has been active in trying to get young people to make a conscious effort to drive more safely.

One of the recent campaigns they put forth was a partnership with Discovery Education in the form of a contest for teen drivers to help create awareness for driving while texting. While the deadline for that ended in February, Toyota has already launched their next youth program with Teen Vogue magazine. This new initiative- to get young female drivers and their parents to "be safe, be fabulous, and arrive in style" involves signing a pledge online together and submitting a photo.

Some of the pledge guidelines include "I will never ride in a car with someone who has been drinking" and "I will not participate in any behavior that makes me look away from the road or distracts me from driving".
It's nice that Toyota is getting parents involved with this, as often times kids can be influenced by bad driving habits of the ones they learn to drive from.

So, what can you win for taking the pledge? One person will be chosen at random each month through December, and get:

• A trip to New York City for a professional photo shoot
• A tour of the Teen Vogue offices
• $1000 shopping spree
• Name recognition by Teen Vogue and Toyota as a "role model" for safe driving.

For more information and to enter, visit the Arrive in Style site. Is this something your teenage daughter would be interested in? Or do you think Toyota should use a different idea to promote safe driving in the form of a contest? Share your thoughts below!

Toyota's Teen Driver Safety Contest

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A sad fact: motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year-old drivers, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Are they preventable? With more outreach programs aimed at teenagers, I say yes. Many Toyota vehicles such as the Highlander and Yaris have been named top safety picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but car design can only go so far when it comes to keeping a driver safe. The rest must be learned by young adults through awareness and education. Toyota and Discovery Education realized this back in 2010 and teamed up to create Toyota Teen Driver, a comprehensive program and online destination providing safe-driving tools and resources to educators, students and parents. One of the great ideas put forth by Toyota and Discovery Education is being referred to as the Toyota Teen Driver Video Challenge and Toyota Teen Driver Educators’ Challenge.



Both are contests designed to spur ideas for safe driving habits and community awareness. Students in 9th-12th grade can submit a video describing their ideas for promoting driver safety in young people, with the most compelling and voted for videos being selected as the winners. The top three entries will be awarded $15,000, $10,000, and $7,500, in addition to being filmed by Discovery for a segment on their stories. Teachers may enter the teen driver educator's challenge and develop an action plan for keeping students safe on the roads, with the best entry winning a $10,000 cash prize and a trip to Washington to attend a safe driving conference.

With the prevalence of texting and driving and driving under the influence, an initiative like this is a great idea for collaborating on ways to engage young drivers on the importance of vehicle safety. If you know anyone who is a student or teacher, share this with them and encourage them to enter! I'd love to hear their story, especially if it ends up being featured on the Toyota Teen Driver website.

The deadline for entries is Feb 14, 2013.

Join the High Mileage Club and Enter to Win a $100 Gas Card!

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EDIT: This contest has since ended. 

Lou Fusz is looking for Toyota owners that have proven the resilience and durability of their vehicle by driving over 100,000 miles on it. We invite you to submit your photo of you and your Toyota vehicle. We'll feature you on our site and give you a voucher for a free car wash!
To join the club, submit two photos to FUSZCONTEST@GMAIL.com. Include one of you and your Toyota vehicle, and another photo of your vehicle's mileage. Or simply visit our dealership with your vehicle and we'll take the photos for you.
We're also giving away a $100 gas card to one lucky winner. Follow the instructions below this post to get entries into the sweepstakes! One random winner will be chosen on December 30th.