WASHINGTON — There’s a contest underway to design a new license plate for Virginia that’s open to high school students.
“The point of the contest is to design a license plate that depicts distraction-free driving,” said Brandy Brubaker, of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
The license plate theme will be: “Take action against distraction.”
“We really want to start this conversation for teens — maybe it’s something that they don’t think too much about,” Brubaker said.
In 2016, distracted teen drivers in Virginia were involved in crashes that killed 13 people and left 800 injured, she said.
Contest designs can include symbols or imagery that’s drawn or created with computer programs.
“Maybe they’ll choose to put some kind of phrase on the license plate. We’re really excited to see what creative things that Virginia students will come up with,” Brubaker said.
Two of the state’s most popular plates currently available came from an earlier design contest for high school students.
“The autumn leaf plate that you see and the one with the Colonial looking man who’s playing a fife,” Brubaker said.
Public, private, parochial or home-schooled students in grades 9-12 can submit designs to the contest through Dec. 15 on the Virginia DMV’s website.
