National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) recently launched its 2012 Act Out Loud contest, giving high school students the opportunity to compete in the activism competition by raising awareness about the importance of strong teen driving laws.

In its fifth year, this competition may award more than $40,000 in prizes, which will be given to 11 teams. Projects for the teams to carry out will include t-shirt design that discourages the use of cell phones while driving, signs and photo montages that promote passenger restrictions awareness and knowledge of safe driving laws and possibly more.

The grand prize winning students will also earn $10,000 and a musical performance for their school. The contest is open for registration through January 13, and will announce the winners in May 2012, during the sixth annual National Youth Traffic Safety Month (NYTSM).

NYTSM is meant to educate American teens about the dangers of driving, and NOYS notes 8 of the 10 deadliest road crash days for teens occur between May and August. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death among teens, responsible for approximately 4,000 lives lost annually.