The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and Setanta Insurance are calling on all young budding filmmakers to enter their national road safety competition, ‘Keep Drama off the Roads’ which was launched today, Tuesday 5th October. The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Breaking the Culture of Speed’ and aims to generate awareness and understanding among young people of the dangers of excessive and inappropriate speed.

The competition, which is open to 15-25 year olds, requires individuals to submit an innovative concept for a short film that tackles the ‘culture of speeding’ on Irish roads. This follows research that suggests that young road-users aged between 17 and 25 are three times more likely to be killed in a collision than the rest of the population. This risk increases significantly for young male drivers aged between 17 and 24 who are five times more likely to be killed in a collision.

The winner of ‘Keep Drama off the Roads’ will receive €3,000 and the opportunity to work with a team of professional film producers to turn their short film concept into a reality. The winning film may be shown on the RSA website, www.rsa.ie, the Setanta Insurance website, www.setantainsurance.com and the ‘Keep Drama off the Roads’ website, www.keepdramaofftheroads.ie. Runner up prizes will also be awarded.

Speaking at today’s launch, RSA Chief Executive Mr Noel Brett said: “We are delighted to join forces with Setanta Insurance for this exciting competition. Research tells us that young drivers are a high risk group for road deaths and serious injuries - peer pressure, inexperience and a sense of invincibility often lead young drivers to take risks while driving by speeding. That’s why we have decided to focus on the theme ‘Breaking the Culture of Speed’ for this competition.”

“We are looking for ideas that could help young people to feel comfortable about voicing concerns when friends are speeding or taking risks on the road, or not getting into the situation in the first place.”

Setanta Insurance Group Operations Director Ms Deirdre McLoughlin said: “‘Keep Drama off the Roads’ is a fantastic opportunity for young filmmakers to work with a team of film professionals and make their vision a reality. Setanta Insurance is delighted to be partnering with the RSA this year. We’re looking for ideas that ask young people to look after each other by either speaking up or resisting peer pressure to take risks behind the wheel. We saw great creativity from young people in the last ‘Keep Drama off the Roads’ competition and have high hopes for the standard of entries.”

Applicants are asked to outline their idea in no more than 1,000 words, along with a working title for the short film. Entries can be submitted online at the competition website, www.keepdramaofftheroads.ie.

The closing date for entries is 12th of November 2010 at 6.00pm. Entries will be judged week commencing 15th November and the winning short film will be completed by 27th December 2010. The ‘Keep Drama off the Roads’ judging panel will choose one short film idea that best meets the competition brief. Further information is available on the ‘Keep Drama off the Roads’ website www.keepdramaofftheroads.ie