2024 Contest Winners
The Department of Motor Vehicles and Travelers announced the winning high schools in their jointly sponsored 15th annual Teen Safe Driving Video Contest. The videos focused on educating teens on how to be safer drivers to prevent crashes, injuries and deaths.
- First place goes to a student team at Weston High School.
- Second-place goes to a student team at Haddam-Killingworth High School.
- Third place goes to a student team at Wilton High School.
The announcement was made recently at the Travelers Insurance headquarters in Hartford at a ceremony to honor all award recipients. This year’s video contest theme was: “Driving Safe Habits.”
“Young drivers are statistically more likely to be involved in motor vehicle accidents, and that is why getting them involved in initiatives like this that advocate and promote safe driving is so important,” Governor Ned Lamont said. “I want to congratulate all the students who participated and helped spread this important message.”
The DMV-Travelers video contest encourages teens in high schools statewide to think about decisions that could cause a crash in an instant. More than 300 students from 23 schools participated, submitting 140 videos – an increase of 35 percent more entries compared to last year.
DMV Commissioner Antonio “Tony” Guerrera was House chair of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Transportation Committee in 2008. He helped lead the effort to change state laws to increase safety for teen drivers – including no friends in the vehicle for the first year a teen is licensed and a nighttime driving curfew of 11 p.m.
“This contest continues to engage teens across the state to highlight the importance of the state’s teen driving laws,” Commissioner Guerrera said. “This year’s videos are thought-provoking, well-produced and showcase the amazing talents of young people who are using their skills to communicate a very important safety message. Thank you to Travelers for co-sponsoring the contest and congratulations to all who participated.”
Travelers awarded the winning students and their high schools over $20,000 in cash and other prizes. For the first place award, Weston High School received $6,000 and the two student winners split $1,250.
“We commend the winning students for the creative ways in which they are helping to educate their peers about the importance of road safety,” said Michael Klein, Executive Vice President and President of Personal Insurance at Travelers. “The impactful messages these students have shared can play a vital role in informing young drivers of the importance of safe driving practices, ultimately working towards our shared goal of creating a better driving environment for all.”
These videos will be used to raise teens’ safety awareness through peer-to-peer conversation. For instance, the Weston High School video will be featured in advertising by the state Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Governor’s Highway Safety Office. DOT is a leader in the state in preventative measures to stop distracted driving.
The contest also made awards to schools for: Use of Connecticut (Wilton High School); Use of Dialogue (Suffield High School); Best Call to Action (Haddam-Killingworth School); Diversity Award (Middletown High School).
View the three top-ranking videos:
First place
School: Weston High School
Students: Nate Colman and Jonah Rothlein
Watch here
Second place
School: Haddam-Killingworth High School
Students: Christopher Palmieri, Mason Mazzotta, Damen Ridgeway and David Sargent
Watch here
Third place
School: Wilton High School
Students: Josh Robins, Niko Tournas and Matt Weiss
Watch here
Also, thank you to all the participating schools this year:
Arts at the Capitol Theater - Willimantic
Cheney Tech - Manchester
Conard High School - West Hartford
CT Coastal Academy
Danbury High School
Daniel Hand High School - Madison
Ellington High School
Enfield High School
Grasso Tech - Groton
Haddam-Killingworth High School
Hall High School - West Hartford
Masuk High School - Monroe
Middletown High School
New Canaan High School
New Fairfield High School
North Haven High School
Rockville High School
Simsbury High School
Suffield High School
Weston High School
Wilbur Cross High School - New Haven
Wilton High School
Woodland Regional High School - Beacon Falls