Michelin North America Inc. is offering teen drivers the chance to win a free ride to college by checking their car’s tire pressure or tread depth and sharing it on social media.
In the new phase of its Beyond the Driving Test program, Michelin will give teen drivers and their parents a #PennyForAFreeRide, teaching them about a serious safety threat and encouraging them to act.
The company says teens face a lot of pressure every day, and the pressure of going to college is high on the list ― safe tire pressure and tread depth is not.
The program launched during National Teen Driver Safety Week, Oct. 20-26, 2019.
Car crashes remain the No. 1 killer of teens in America, according to analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 738 tire-related deaths occur each year. What’s more, according to 2016 federal data, 457 distracted cell phone deaths occur annually. Of the 2.2 million accidents each year involving teen drivers, nearly 300,000 are related to tire issues like worn treads and over- or under-inflated tires, according to an analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration4.
“The statistics are startling — we need to do everything we can to keep our teen drivers safe,” says Alexis Garcin, chairman and president of Michelin North America, Inc. “At Michelin, we know that tires need pressure, not teens. Our goal is to encourage teens to take life-saving action that helps them secure a safe future.”
The cost of college continues to rise. Increased tuition prices force many teens to make education choices based on debt alone. In the last 20 years, college tuition fees at public universities have increased 221%5.
During the next year, Michelin’s goal is to help teen drivers with both ― ensuring teens and their families take the necessary actions to stay safe on the road and give one lucky teen a free ride to college.
How to enter
For the chance to win, teen drivers should:
Take a photo or video of themselves doing the “Penny Tread Test” or checking their tire pressure.
Post the image on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, mentioning @MichelinUSA and using #PennyForAFreeRide or upload an entry on the company’s website.
As an incentive, every time someone submits a #PennyForAFreeRide post on social media, Michelin will contribute a penny to a “pocket change” fund, which will provide the grand prize winner some extra cash for school.
The #PennyForAFreeRide campaign was developed to help young drivers pursue their dreams and remind them to practice safe driving habits.
Beyond the Driving Test, first introduced in 2014 in partnership with Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), set a goal of gaining commitments from all 50 U.S. states to include consistent information about tire safety in new-driver training materials. That milestone was reached in 2017, more than two years ahead of plan. Today, 38 states include life-saving tire-safety information in their training materials for new drivers.
In 2018, Michelin partnered with Vans to create limited-edition Michelin-inspired shoes to challenge teens to prove their #StreetTread. Michelin is proud of that work, but there is still more work to be done to drive awareness about this important topic.
To learn more about critical tire safety checks and the #PennyForAFreeRide contest, visit https://beyondthedrivingtest.com/pennyforafreeride.
