Vision Zero for Youth U.S. Leadership Award

 

The Vision Zero for Youth U.S. Leadership Award recognizes places that are taking bold steps to prioritize safety for child and youth pedestrians and bicyclists. The award aims to highlight noteworthy practices and inspire other communities to take action.

Application period is open until December 15, 2025.

Now in its ninth year, the Vision Zero for Youth Leadership Award is given annually by the National Center for Safe Routes to School. This year, the award is made possible by General Motors and the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. We appreciate FIA Foundation’s support of the award program in previous years.

Eligibility

• All communities are eligible. Communities include counties, cities, Tribal governments, towns, townships, boroughs and villages. Please email info@visionzeroforyouth.org with any questions about eligibility.
• Local government Vision Zero commitment is not required.
• Communities of any population size are eligible for the award.
• Applications may be submitted by the intended recipient or nominated by an outside individual or organization.

Criteria and selection

Note: Applicants do not need to have action or success in all items listed below in order to be selected for the award.

Accomplishments – 10 points

• Accessible infrastructure improvements to calm traffic, improve crossings, and/or provide safe spaces for youth walking, biking, or rolling (such as speed management strategies or quick-build projects to test solutions and engage community).
• Evidence of progress (such as reduction in vehicle speeds; reductions in deaths and severe injuries; increases in walking and biking; implementation of proven safety countermeasures).
• Establishment of policies that benefit youth pedestrians or bicyclists (such as a prioritized list of schools for improvements, school zone camera program, neighborhood traffic calming program, or something else).
• Adopted Safety Action plan, Vision Zero plan or other plan(s) that include addressing safety issues for children and youth with strategies beyond education.

Community Involvement – 10 points

• Partnerships (such as city and school district staff working together, local governments working with youth, engagement with State departments of transportation, community leaders and/or advocacy groups)
• Evidence of neighborhood involvement (such as work with the community to create support for traffic calming measures that began with a focus on child pedestrians and/or bicyclists).
• Evidence of support from local government, elected officials, or other leaders and decision makers for youth pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

Approach – 10 points

• Implementation of proven strategies and countermeasures.
• Proactive identification of places that have the greatest risk for pedestrian and bicyclist crashes and prioritizing resources to those places.
• Evidence of long-term commitment.

These elements all align with a Safe System approach.

Submission process

Submissions are accepted using this form. Because the form needs to be completed in one session, you may wish to prepare answers using this Word document before using the submission form. Deadline for submission is December 15, 2025.

Contact

We welcome your questions to info@visionzeroforyouth.org