NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 12, 2007) – With a creative eye, a deft director’s touch and a determination to save lives, hundreds of talented students entered creative and compelling traffic safety videos in the first ever Safety Scholars Video Contest. Today, Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) announced the winners. Sarah Wilson, Eric Greenop and Makula Dunbar received the highest number of online votes for original videos promoting driver safety among teens. Ty Gullingsrud was chosen as the critics’ choice for his amazing time lapse video using Lego® figures that dramatically illustrates the need to buckle up every time you get behind the wheel.

“Supporting safety education is an important priority for our team at Bridgestone Firestone and these videos went above and beyond our expectations,” said Christine Karbowiak, Vice President of Public Affairs, Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., BFNT’s parent company. “The contestants showed amazing originality and did a great job of creating videos that were not only informative but fun to watch as well.”

From more than 300 U.S. student entries, only 10 finalists were chosen to compete in this year’s scholarship contest. The teen entrants, ages 16-21, were challenged to submit an original video, one-to-three minutes in length, which would compel viewers to be more safety-conscious while driving. Video topics included: seat belt usage, tire safety and avoiding in-vehicle distractions. The top 10 videos as selected by the judges were posted on YouTube.com as well as www.SafetyScholars.com, the official contest site. Three winners were then selected among the top 10 finalists, solely via online voting. Through the contest site, more than 8,000 total votes were collected before the top three winners were determined.

Sarah Wilson of Seffner, Fla., a student at the University of South Florida, received the most online votes to secure the first place position with her video “The Letter,” which features a sophisticated special effect that shows a letter floating across the sky to different recipients featuring simple but powerful safety warnings. “When I set out to create a short, PSA-style video on driving safety, I hoped to convey a simple, yet very important message: drive smart, drive safe, save lives,” Wilson said.

Following Wilson with the second-highest number of online votes was Eric Greenop of Fishkill, N.Y., a student at Oneonta University. Greenop’s video showcased a stop-motion parody of the movie “Transformers” in which a shape-shifting robot takes its road rage out on a rude driver. “Creating the special effect was challenging but I thought it was an effective way to communicate the message that it’s important to drive defensively and that ‘road rage’ is a danger to everyone,” Greenop said.

Taking third place was Makula Dunbar of Minneapolis, Minn., a student at Howard University. Dunbar’s use of special effects and catchy song lyrics captured the attention of her peers while stressing the importance of driver safety. “I just had fun with the video and used humor to convey important safety messages. Sometimes when you make people laugh they pay attention and that can be more effective than a serious lecture,” Dunbar said.

Ty Gullingsrud will be awarded a $2,500 college scholarship as the critics’ choice winner for his seat belt safety video featuring elaborate time lapse photography. “I spent a lot of time creating the video and hope that young drivers will get to see the video and will take a few seconds to buckle up,” Tyler said. “Those few seconds can save your life.”

Each of the three grand prize winners will receive a $5,000 college scholarship with the remaining seven finalists receiving a new set of Bridgestone or Firestone tires. All 10 finalists’ video entries can be viewed on www.SafetyScholars.com and downloadable broadcast quality versions of the winning videos as well as photos and bios of the winners are posted at www.bridgestoneamericasmedia.com.

BFNT created the Safety Scholars Video Contest to promote driver safety and education among America’s youth. Participants had to be 16 – 21-years old, and a legal resident of the 50 U.S. states and District of Columbia. Contestants also needed to posses a valid driver’s license and be currently enrolled as a full-time student at an accredited secondary, college level or trade school. Official Rules with complete entry, eligibility and prize details are available on SafetyScholars.com and YouTube.com.