Michelin and Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) announced plans at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) to distribute $100,000 in grants to improve the safety of teen drivers in the Miami and Los Angeles areas. According to the organizations, the grants continue the goals of Michelin’s Beyond the Driving Test campaign, launched in partnership with the FIA in 2014 to raise awareness of tire maintenance and safety among new drivers.
“As we identified in our teen and parent survey for Beyond the Driving Test, there is a significant gap among teens today in understanding even the most basic tire safety information,” said Pete Selleck, chairman and president of Michelin North America. “We encourage road safety organizations large and small to apply for these grants so we can help get teens the information they need and close this dangerous safety gap.”
Each Michelin/FIA Teen Road Safety Grant will focus on local activation in the greater Miami and Long Beach areas. Michelin and FIA chose these two cities to align with the U.S. stages of the Formula E racing circuit, which takes place in Miami in March 2015 and Long Beach, Calif., in April 2015.
Michelin and FIA noted that the programs selected will include the following key criteria:
• Sustainable: How the partner might sustain the program each year
• Scalable: Show how elements of the program can be successfully replicated in other states
• Tangible: Create visual, tangible connections in the car and in the classroom for student drivers to embrace tire safety
• Measurable: Grant programs must define meaningful metrics by which to measure objectives
The winning organizations will be announced in March 2015. Michelin stated that it would evaluate long-term funding support for the programs based on outcomes from the pilots in Miami and Long Beach.
Non-profit and educational organizations with networks in the greater Miami and Los Angeles areas are encouraged to apply for the grants by downloading an application at beyondthedrivingtest.com and submitting it by Feb. 15.
