PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is inviting high school students to compete in this year's eighth annual Innovations Challenge.
Open to all Pennsylvania students in grades 9-12, the Innovations Challenge encourages high schoolers to compete to solve actual transportation challenges.
The goal of the 2024-25 Innovations Challenge is for high schoolers to increase awareness of seat belt safety and promote behavior that will improve roadway safety. According to PennDOT, more than 350 unrestrained fatalities occur on Pennsylvania roadways each year.
Now, the organization wants to hear how newer, younger drivers would reduce such high statistics.
“Safety is the focus of everything we do at PennDOT, and seat belt safety is vital to reducing fatalities and moving toward zero deaths on our roadways,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said in a press release. “Hearing fresh perspectives from our youngest drivers on how to encourage seat belt usage and change behavior is a welcome prospect. I am excited to see what concepts the students develop.”
Students interested in getting involved in the competition can visit the PennDOT website. Regional winners will first be selected to present their ideas to Secretary Carroll and a panel of judges to determine the statewide winning team.
The winning team will receive $6,000, which will be provided by the following organizations: the Transportation Policy and Education Foundation, the educational division of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors (APC) organization, the American Council of Engineering Companies of PA (ACE/PA), the Mid-Atlantic Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (MASITE) and the Intelligent Transportation Society of Pennsylvania (ITSPA).
Submissions are due by Jan. 31, 2025.
