Thank you to everyone who participated in the first of two scholarship contests for the year 2026. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to write, research, and share intimate stories about the importance of driver education. Some essay submissions dealt with being involved in a motor vehicle accident and the tragic aftermath. Others, sadly, even deal with the loss of life due to a motor vehicle crash. Sharing your story could save a life by introducing how grave the consequences of driver distraction can be. We applaud you for taking the issue seriously enough to educate others about it.
The quality of the submissions this year was as excellent as ever. This year, we received many submissions, making our task of selecting a winner much more difficult. We truly wish we could award every participant for their efforts. So many well-written and researched papers dealt with the importance of driver education. We truly enjoyed reading the submissions and will continue to share your stories, thoughts, and suggestions on what we can do to save lives and ensure the safety of all those who share our roadways. Now, let's announce the winners of this round.
Four essays rose to the top of the field, and each will receive $500.
"The Language of Chance: Why Driving Deaths Aren't Accidents" by Subin Kang. Subin argues that the word "accident" quietly excuses a crash, and builds the case out of NHTSA and CDC figures and a comparison of road culture between Korea and Canada. What sets it apart is that it turns that argument on the death of a friend and refuses to file it under bad luck.
"What the Passenger Seat Taught Me" by Sameen Rahman. A bus crash in Dhaka, caused by two drivers from the same company racing each other for fares, becomes an argument about incentives: what happens when drivers are paid in a way that rewards speed, and what real training and honest measurement would change.
"Every Empty Seat at the Table" by Channing Cooley. Channing makes the case that driver education works by teaching judgment rather than steering, then names five concrete things that would bring deaths down. A 2009 intersection crash sits at the center, and the essay ends on what she models for the children riding in her back seat.
"The High-Wire of the Highway" by Bernice Ko. Two family collisions, described in full. Bernice weaves Canadian fatality data through that grief rather than bolting it on at the end, and every countermeasure she proposes addresses the exact way one of those crashes happened.
Six more essays earned distinction, each receiving $350. In no particular order, they are
"In the Driver's Seat: The Weight of a Split Second" by Edu Andrei Petru. A near miss the writer holds himself accountable for, framed by the Safe System approach and the most specific personal commitments in the field.
"Living Among the World's Deadliest Roads" by Michael Gabriel Susana. The most thoroughly researched essay of the round, arguing that road deaths are a failure of policy and education, with a youth-led project the writer could actually run.
"The Fatal Glow" by Alexander Freedman. Sharp thinking on phone lockouts, ever-larger dashboard touchscreens and traffic calming, plus the most original idea we read: take over as navigator and DJ so the driver is never tempted.
"The Racing Line of Responsibility" by Jann Christiann Mariano. Argues that learning to drive informally passes down a relative's shortcuts instead of the fundamentals, earned by two crashes and backed by the writer's SADD chapter work.
"In The Driver's Seat" by Mariana Vieira Khoury. A green light that was right of way but not protection, precise about the crash and specific about the fixes, down to standardizing graduated licensing.
"The Weight of the Wheel" by Judith Olivia Mohan. Stopping distances measured in football fields, texting as driving that distance blind, and a passenger memory whose lesson is that the driver was neither drunk nor distracted, only arrogant.
Great job everyone! We wish we could award every participant, as reading your essays was a true pleasure. We say this every year, but it bears repeating. Ideally, there would be no need for scholarship contests, and every citizen would be assured a free college education. As you know, a high school degree does not go too far these days, and to limit one's access to a good education and God-given potential because of a lack of resources is truly unfair when we have the means to provide otherwise. So, it is also up to you to declare that you wish for a college education to be granted as a right for all and not just an option for some. You all will soon be or are now of voting age, and your views can be put into law to bring about a better future for your generation and generations to come. I do hope you will get involved in bringing about this change. Bless you all. Thanks again to all participants.
