Local student wins national competition and designs billboard to encourage safe driving
Regional student Diana Gonzalez Mejia was announced as one of the winners of the Yellow Light Project competition. Its award-winning “Phone Rest” display panel design advises drivers to keep their eyes on the road.
The 21-year-old Houston native was one of six winners, chosen from 2,069 entries from across the country. There are three categories: billboard, short video and radio spot.
“I used Adobe Illustrator to do it,” she said. “I still love to play with Illustrator and create designs for fun or for school. I have a lot more experience with this medium than video or audio.
“Phone Rest” will be displayed on digital signs and bus shelters across the country until December 2021. The aim of the annual competition, open to high school and college students, is to instill safe driving habits in young people.
In 2019, nine percent of drivers aged 15 to 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to be distracted. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted at the time of fatal crashes.
Project Yellow Light is a scholarship competition started by Hunter Garner’s family after his death in a car crash in 2007. Hunter, a 16-year-old from Fredericksburg, Virginia, was driving a car driven by a good friend. Hunter’s mother, Julie Garner, created Project Yellow Light to avoid distracted driving. Teens are much more likely to listen to their own peers.
“I know the topic can sometimes include posts that use scare tactics,” Gonzalez said. “But they encouraged us on the website to try to avoid using scare tactics. I thought I would do something nicer and more positive to watch.
Since 2011, Project Yellow Light has partnered with the Ad Council to turn winning entries into nationwide public service announcements on 1,800 TV stations, iHeartMedia radio stations and the nearly 2,000 digital screens from Clear Channel Outdoor.
On Monday, July 2, the winning works will be presented at a ceremony in Times Square in New York.
“I’m actually going to visit him in Times Square next week,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez is a senior at the University of Houston where she is studying Supply Chain Management and Marketing. She grew up in Houston with her parents Isaac and Belen Gonzalez and her brother Armando.
The Project Yellow Light competition will reopen on October 31, 2021.