NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 24, 2006) — Bridgestone/Firestone is launching an essay contest for teens to earn $2,500 college scholarships or other prizes.
The contest will be run on BFS' site, www.safetyscholars.com, which is part of the company's safety education campaign. The essays will deal with various driver safety issues.
“Car accidents are the leading killer of teens in this country,” said racing legend and BFS spokesman Mario Andretti. “Teens are just learning to drive and face many distractions, so they're at a very high risk for accidents. We want to help teens learn good, safe habits from the very beginning. Our hope is our Safety Scholars program will help us find the best way to get all teens to hear this important message.”
To participate in the essay contest, students age 16 to 21 must compose an essay of 500 words or less on car safety topics they feel are important to their peers, such as using seat belts, drinking and driving or tire safety. The submission should include ways to improve driver safety and ideas about the best way to communicate to young drivers about these safety messages. Essays will be accepted through July 31, and finalists will be named in the fall.
Each of the top three finalists will receive a $2,500 scholarship and laptop computer. The top 10 finalists will receive a $500 gas card and set of tires.