Late in June 2007, Lowell and Julie Garner got the call every parent dreads: “There’s been an accident. Your son is in the hospital. It’s serious.” Hunter Garner, 16, was breathing, but little more. Early the next day, the decision was made to take Hunter off life support. But his story would not end there: His parents would take lessons from his car-crash death and turn it into Project Yellow Light. The program asks teens to make videos on the dangers of distracted driving while giving them the chance to earn scholarship cash. The remaining Garners -- Lowell, Julie, daughter Alexandra -- knew they had to do something to address unsafe and distracted driving among teenagers. Julie Garner works for an ad company called the Martin Agency in Richmond, Va.; she knows how to create campaigns. What they came up with is inspired: Project Yellow Light. The simple concept is contained in the project’s slogan: “Make a video. Win a scholarship. Save a life.” The project holds two competitions annually: one for high school students, one for college students. First place in each class gets a $5,000 scholarship, with $2,000 for second place, $1,000 for third. Winning videos are turned into public-service spots by the Ad Council and distributed to 1,600 television stations. The videos have to be 25 or 55 seconds so they can be used as 30- or 60-second PSAs.
Slowly but surely, sponsors have joined. Besides the Ad Council, there’s Mazda and its public relations guy, Dean Case, who helps organize the competition and find the judges (this year, judges included Autoweek editor Wes Raynal). Even Mazda’s young Mazda Road to Indy drivers are involved—this year, teen racer Ben Albano presented Project Yellow Light with a check for $4,600, raised from a high school karting competition. U-Haul gives $2,500 in moving expenses to the two winners, should they need to move before or after college. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is on board, as is the National Organizations for Youth Safety. The 2015 contest’s top videos were selected from nearly 600 entries. They’re startlingly good -- some funny, some serious. “No One Should Text While Driving," by Marlowe Lexvold of South Haven, Minn., took first in the high school division for his animated film of a penguin sledding down an icy hill on its belly, pulling out a phone to text and then plowing into the snow. He is off to Savannah College of Art and Design this fall.
Brothers Sam and Wrenn Senser of Louisville, Neb., won the college competition for their role reversal of deer driving a car while young people -- faces buried in their smartphones -- stop in the middle of the road. Sam, who attends Metro Community College in Omaha, used his grandfather’s deer mounts as film props. Go to projectyellowlight.com to see the videos. The website also has information on how to enter the 2016 competition and how to donate to the cause. “It’s a way to honor the memory of Hunter,” said Lowell Garner, “and, hopefully, help save some lives.”
