Thanks to the ingenuity and dedication of the students at Bedford County’s Jefferson Forest High School, Montgomery County’s Auburn Middle School and 69 other Virginia middle and high schools, seat belt usage by teen drivers saw a significant spike during the YOVASO 2017 “Save Your Tailgate, Buckle Up and Slow Down” (SYT) campaign.
The four-week challenge, which aims to encourage youth and teens to develop a lifelong, life-saving habit of always buckling up, saw a 12 percent increase among students at schools that completed pre and post seat belt checks. The campaign also focused on speed-prevention.
In recognition of their students’ SYT participation and successes, Jefferson Forest High School placed first in the campaign’s high school division and Auburn placed first in the middle school division.
Louisa County High School in Louisa Co. placed second in the high school division and Halifax County High School in Halifax Co. placed third. Central Academy Middle School in Botetourt Co. was second in the middle school division and Rodney Thompson Middle School in Stafford Co. was third.
As the statewide winners, Jefferson Forest and Auburn will each receive $500 and a congratulatory prize banner. Louisa, Halifax, Central Academy, and Rodney Thompson will receive smaller cash prizes and a banner.
All prizes for the “Save Your Tailgate” Campaign were funded by donations and by a grant from State Farm.
“We are proud to support this important program that actively encourages local Virginia teens to buckle up,” said Kim Conyers, Community Specialist for State Farm. “Keeping our teens safe on the road is a top priority.”
The grant from State Farm also supported additional campaign materials along with a grant from Geico.
Sixty-six schools participated in the annual campaign that ran from Sept. 18 to Oct. 13. Winners were selected based on their Creative Event, which was developed by students and emphasized the Save Your Tailgate campaign theme and messaging.
The Creative Event was given the highest weight and was judged on content, percentage of student involvement, and creativity.
Other judging criteria included educational and awareness activities aimed at changing driving attitudes and behaviors and the results of pre and post campaign seat belt checks to encourage seat belt use among students.
Among the schools that completed the campaign, seat belt use increased an average of 12 percent from pre-campaign to post-campaign.
“We are so proud of our participating schools and their achievements towards increasing seat belt usage among their students, especially with fatal crashes on the rise in Virginia,” said Casey Taylor, YOVASO Program Development Coordinator. “Buckling up isn’t our only challenge with teen drivers. In Virginia, speed remains a key factor in all fatal crashes involving a young driver with approximately half of all fatal teen crashes caused by excessive speed, so it was important for our schools to address this issue as well.”
The participating schools sponsored hundreds of events aimed at increasing seat belt use and/or speed prevention. Some examples include buckle-up themed tailgate parties, safety demonstrations, banner contests, participating in parades, creative videos and cheers, unique buckle up bulletin boards and posters, pep rallies promoting traffic safety and social media campaigns.
Participating schools also sponsored educational programs on seat belt safety and rewarded participants with stress reliever footballs, buckle up reminder cards and stickers, speed-prevention bookmarks, and other materials imprinted with the buckle up and slow down message.
YOVASO is Virginia’s peer-to-peer education and prevention program for teen driver and passenger safety. Through YOVASO, teens work to advocate for safer driving among their peers and to develop positive prevention strategies for their schools and communities. The program, which currently has 100 active member schools, is administered by the Virginia State Police and funded through grants from the Virginia DMV Highway Safety Office. Membership in YOVASO is free and open to all Virginia high schools and middle schools. For more information, contact YOVASO at (540) 375-3596 or visit the website at yovaso.org.
Participating high schools
Altavista High School, Campbell Co.
Amherst County High School, Amherst Co.
Auburn High School, Montgomery Co.
Blacksburg High School, Montgomery Co.
Bluestone High School, Mecklenburg Co.
Brooke Point High School, Stafford Co.
Christiansburg High School, Montgomery Co.
Colonial Forge High School, Stafford Co.
Council High School, Buchanan Co.
Eastern Montgomery High School, Montgomery Co.
Floyd County High School, Floyd Co.
Galileo Magnet High School, Danville City
George Wythe High School, Richmond City
Grayson County High School, Grayson Co.
Grayson Highlands School, Grayson Co.
Gretna High School, Pittsylvania Co.
Halifax County High School, Halifax Co.
Heritage High School, Lynchburg City
Hidden Valley High School, Roanoke Co.
James River High School, Botetourt Co.
Jefferson Forest High School, Bedford Co.
Liberty High School, Bedford Co.
Louisa County High School, Louisa Co.
Luray High School, Page Co.
Middlesex High School, Middlesex Co.
Mountain View High School, Stafford Co.
Narrows High School, Giles Co.
North Stafford High School, Stafford Co.
Page County High School, Page Co.
Parkview High School, Mecklenburg Co.
Patriot High School, Prince William Co.
Poquoson High School, Poquoson City
Randolph-Henry High School, Charlotte Co.
Stafford High School, Stafford Co.
Staunton River High School, Bedford Co.
Stuarts Draft High School, Augusta Co.
Tazewell High School, Tazewell Co.
Turner Ashby High School, Rockingham Co.
William Byrd High School, Roanoke Co.
William Campbell High School, Campbell Co.
Wilson Memorial High School, Augusta Co.
Woodrow Wilson High School, Portsmouth City
Participating middle schools
A.G. Wright Middle School, Stafford Co.
Auburn Middle School, Montgomery Co.
Bedford Middle School, Bedford Co.
Boushall Middle School, Richmond City
Cave Spring Middle School, Roanoke Co.
Central Academy Middle School, Botetourt Co.
Dixon Smith Middle School, Stafford Co.
Drew Middle School, Stafford Co.
Forest Middle School, Bedford Co.
Fries Middle School, Grayson Co.
H.H. Poole Middle School, Stafford Co.
Hidden Valley Middle School, Roanoke Co.
Independence Middle School, Grayson Co.
Louisa County Middle School, Louisa Co.
Northside Middle School, Roanoke Co.
Page County Middle School, Page Co.
Read Mountain Middle School, Botetourt Co.
Rodney Thompson Middle School, Stafford Co.
Shawsville Middle School, Montgomery Co.
Staunton River Middle School, Bedford Co.
Walker-Grant Middle School, Fredericksburg City
Tazewell Middle School, Tazewell Co.
