Silver Spring, MD (May 2, 2013) – Toyota and Discovery Education today announced that Ryan Johnston, a high school student from Corona, California, was chosen by the public in an online vote as the grand prize winner of the 2013 Toyota Teen Driver Video Challenge.  Now in its second year, the contest challenges teens across the country to create two-minute videos to inspire their friends to drive more safely and avoid distractions.  The contest is part of Toyota Teen Driver, a joint education program by Toyota and Discovery Education, to help teen drivers stay safe.

Ryan’s video, which you can view at http://toyotateendriver.discoveryeducation.com/videos.cfm, takes a humorous look at what driving distractions may have looked like a hundred years ago, while also sending a serious message to teens of today about the importance of road safety.  Ryan will receive a $15,000 scholarship and will work with a Discovery film crew to re-shoot his video as a professional, TV-ready PSA.  On May 15, his video will be featured alongside star-studded celebrity PSAs on the web site for DoSomething.org’s Thumb Wars, an annual campaign, sponsored by Toyota, that empowers teens to take a stand against texting while driving.

Vineeth Mohan and Harrish Ratman, a team of two from Fresno, California, secured second place in the challenge and Miguel Arango from Miami, Florida, came in third.   These students also will work with Discovery to re-shoot their videos.

“At Toyota, we are deeply committed to helping teen drivers stay safe so we are so pleased to award Ryan with the grand prize in this year’s Toyota Teen Driver Video Challenge,” said Patricia Salas Pineda, group vice president, National Philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation.  “We were impressed by all the video submissions this year, but Ryan’s stood out in particular for its humorous as well as its clever and memorable approach to educating other teens about the seriousness of distracted driving.”

“Discovery Education is thrilled to work alongside Toyota to reward Ryan for his outstanding video,” said Mary Rollins, Vice President of Discovery Education. “We know the content of his video will serve to start a larger conversation among teens, adults and educators about the overwhelming importance of safe driving practices.”

In addition to sponsoring the Video Challenge each year, Toyota Teen Driver provides educators, parents and students with free online resources to help teens to become safer drivers, including curriculum, parent coaching guides, and take-home activities to initiate important conversations about the life-changing choices that teens can make behind the wheel. For more information on Toyota Teen Driver, visit www.toyotateendriver.com.

As part of 10 years of teaching teens and parents about safe driving, Toyota will host its national teen driving skills workshop, Toyota Driving Expectations, in Torrance, Denver and San Antonio. The free, 2.5-hour programs will be held at the Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. headquarters for teens and their parents to learn together about defensive driving techniques, distracted driving and good choices. Registration is full in Torrance this weekend, but still open in Denver May 18-19 and San Antonio June 8-9 at www.toyotadrivingexpectations.com.

The Toyota Teen Driver Video Challenge and Toyota Driving Expectations are just one of many initiatives by Toyota that are designed to help keep teens safe on the road.   The Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center (www.toyota.com/csrc) works with leading North American Universities, hospitals, research institutions and agencies on research designed to better understand teen drivers’ risks and behaviors and identify effective recommendations to help keep them safe.  Toyota also is hosting Arrive in Style (http://arriveinstyle.teenvogue.com), a safe driving campaign with Teen Vogue to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving among teenage girls and inspire them to make a mutual commitment with their mothers to drive safely.