The federal agency’s 2014 “Be Ready. Be Buckled.” student art contest, organized by the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt Partnership, is open to students in kindergarten through sixth grade with relatives or sponsors in the commercial truck and bus industries.
The contest educates youngsters about highway safety, and urges commercial drivers to buckle up on every trip. It also is intended to set a positive safety example for the next generation.
Twelve winners will be selected in March, and their artwork will appear in the 2015 “Be Ready. Be Buckled.” contest calendar. Artwork will be evaluated in two categories: one for kindergarten through second grade, and another for third through sixth grade. (Photo above is from the 2013 grand-prize winner of the Kindergarten through second grade age group, Caleb Zhao of Gaithersburg, Md.) is All 12 students also will be honored at a ceremony at the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters to be held in the spring.
FMCSA will accept contest submissions through Feb. 28, 2014. Click here for more information on the contest and how to enter.
The CMV Safety Belt Partnership is a collaboration effort among FMCSA, other government agencies and industry-specific private-sector organizations designed to encourage safety belt use by commercial motor vehicle drivers. Partnership members affiliated with the school bus industry include the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) and First Student, Inc.
According to recently released data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2012 (the most recent year available) 697 occupants of large trucks were killed in crashes. Further analysis by FMCSA researchers showed that about 40 percent were not wearing safety belts.
