Press Releases - Department of Transportation

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 27, 2021

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), in partnership with the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), is seeking 20 students in County public or private schools to serve as “Vision Zero Youth Ambassadors.” The program is aiming to encourage youth to have an active role in road safety efforts and improvements.

Interested students may learn about the program here. They must complete an application before Friday, Feb. 5, if they want to be considered for the program. Ambassadors can earn special prizes and Montgomery County Public School students can earn Student Service Learning (SSL) hours for their participation.

The program is part of the County’s Vision Zero initiative, whose goal is to eliminate traffic-related severe injuries and deaths. Youth Ambassadors will play an important role in helping the County work toward the goal by becoming road safety leaders in their communities.

Ambassadors will attend special virtual training on road safety, contribute to developing effective safety campaigns and have public speaking opportunities related to the Vision Zero campaign. The program will have each ambassador create an ambassador safety campaign plan, which they will present to parents and community leaders at a celebration luncheon.

Two virtual trainings for selected ambassadors of three hours each will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 6, and Saturday, March 20. The trainings will enable participants to:

Explain the issues facing youth on roadways.
Demonstrate action steps youth can take to stay safe.
Showcase essential skills in communications, become involved in campaign development and adapt to leadership positions.

After the initial training sessions, ambassadors will participate in four follow-up sessions via Zoom that will be held on Mondays March 29, April 12, April 26 and May 10. At these sessions, ambassadors will develop and execute a road safety campaign at their school or in their communities and chart the results of their plan.

At a virtual closing event in June, ambassadors will serve as youth keynote speakers, sharing their plans, outcomes and best practices in road safety with attendees and special guests.

Learn more about Vision Zero here and follow @VisionZeroMC for ongoing updates on the Vision Zero effort in Montgomery County.

For ongoing transportation updates, follow @MCDOTNow on Twitter, visit the department website at montgomerycountymd.gov/mcdot, subscribe to MCDOT news releases or subscribe to MCDOT’s ‘Go Montgomery!’ newsletter.

Release ID: 21-008
Media Contact: Hannah Henn 240-777-8389