GOVERNMENT NEWS
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces 2021 Road Safety Student Art Contest Winners U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Deputy Administrator Meera Joshi announced the winners of the 2021 Road Safety Student Art Contest via a congratulatory video. The announcement was made during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, Sept. 12-18, when truck drivers throughout the country were honored for their contributions to keeping the economy moving as they safely delivered essential goods. “Every year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration asks young artists to help raise awareness about how important it is to keep people safe on the road – and this year’s submissions were terrific,” said Secretary Buttigieg. “I want to thank every student who chose to share your art with us.” “You’ve used art to create powerful and important messages,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Meera Joshi in congratulating all of the winners, adding, “What you’ve done with color and images drives home the message of safety in a way words alone just cannot.” The winning artwork of the following 12 students will be showcased in the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters building in Washington, D.C., and featured in the 2022 Road Safety Student Art Calendar.
GRAND PRIZE WINNERS: (shown on the top of the next page)
• Kindergarten to Fifth Grade: Avni Choudepally - Cary, North Carolina • Sixth to Eighth Grade: Amy Lin - Belle Meade, New Jersey • Ninth to Tenth Grade: Abigail Regnier - Jefferson City, Missouri • Eleventh to Twelfth Grade: Olivia Stone - Anchorage, Alaska
FMCSA PEOPLE’S CHOICE ART CONTEST AWARDS WINNERS: (shown below)
• Aaban Mahmood - Coraopolis, Pennsylvania • Abby Chan - Crofton, Maryland
HONORABLE MENTION RECIPIENTS: (shown on the bottom of the next page)
• Karthikeya Vattem - McDonald, Pennsylvania • Lynn Sun - Livingston, New Jersey • Noah Cho - Wheaton, Illinois • Pranav Balakrishnan - Plano, Texas • Preetiggah Sudhakar - Simpsonville, South Carolina • Yohann Lee - Studio City, California
This year’s Road Safety Student Art Contest challenged students ranging from kindergarten through high school to design and create motivational artwork providing safety messaging for all roadway users — truck and bus operators, passenger vehicle drivers, motorcyclists, scooter riders, bicyclists, skateboarders and pedestrians. Conducted annually, the contest is sponsored under FMCSA’s Our Roads, Our Safety partnership, of which CVSA is a member, along with more than 30 governmental, safety, industry and private organizations. Every roadway traveler, young to old, can help save lives and reduce injuries by making safety a priority. Always buckle up, avoid becoming distracted, stay alert and pay attention when entering intersections. Through their work, the young artists call on commercial truck and bus operators to do their part for safety, while also reminding everyone to give large commercial motor vehicles extra room to maneuver. Submitted art included messages such as never cut in front of a large truck or bus, never tailgate, and avoid lingering in the drivers’ blind spots – “The No Zone” along the sides, immediately in front and behind the trucks and buses where cars cannot be seen. To learn more about the Road Safety Student Art Contest and to see the winning entries, visit www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ OurRoadsArtContest. n
PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNERS:
Aaban Mahmood
Abby Chan
“What you’ve done with color and images drives home the message of safety in a way words alone just cannot.” - FMCSA Deputy Administrator Meera Joshi
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GUARDIAN
