Erie Insurance Group and Selinsgrove High School Produce Safe Driving Public Service Announcement

Erie Insurance Group and Selinsgrove High School Produce Safe Driving Public Service Announcement

ERIE, Pa., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Teen drivers not only have responsibility for their own lives, they're also responsible for those of others in the car: That's the crux of a public service announcement (PSA) produced by Selinsgrove High School students and Erie Insurance employees, filming on location in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041112/ERIELOGO )

The PSA was produced as part of Erie Insurance's Lookin' Out program, a peer-to-peer safe teen driving program conducted in more than 70 high schools across Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin during the 2007-2008 academic year. Participating schools are eligible for a grant of up to $2,000 to design and implement safe driving activities. All schools involved in the Lookin' Out program were invited to submit a PSA script designed to build awareness and positively impact teen driving behavior. A group of Erie Insurance employees who help manage the program determined which entry delivered the strongest safe driving message.

Sophomores Courtney Lester and Gabriella Damiano conceived the winning PSA concept, submitted the entry and participated in the filming. The PSA was directed and produced by Erie Insurance's media services staff with the support and cooperation of the Selinsgrove High Lookin' Out Committee.

Erie Insurance agent Mark Dersham of A.A. Shaffer, Jr. & Son Insurance Agency in Shamokin Dam serves as a liaison to the school's Lookin' Out program and was pleased to see the students rewarded for their efforts.

"This PSA sends a very powerful message," says Dersham. "It not only emphasizes the importance of wearing a seatbelt, it reminds teen drivers that they take on an enormous amount of responsibility each time they get behind the wheel of a car."

Karen Kraus Phillips, vice president and manager of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, is pleased that another student-directed public service announcement, the eighth of its kind, is available for broadcast.

"The Lookin' Out PSAs are a wonderful example of collaboration between Erie Insurance, our agents and high schools in our markets," Kraus Phillips says. "The students involved have become passionate about promoting safe driving among their peers, and Erie Insurance is glad to provide resources to help them."

To obtain a copy of the "My Big Sister" PSA, contact Megan Euston, Lookin' Out coordinator, at 1-800-458-0811 ext. 7154 or at megan.euston@erieinsurance.com

For more information about Lookin' Out, visit http://www.erieinsurance.com/lookinout or check out the Lookin' Out multimedia news release (http://www.shareholder.com/erie/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=284732 ).

According to A.M. Best Company, Erie Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is the 16th largest automobile insurer in the United States based on direct premiums written and the 21st largest property/casualty insurer in the United States based on total lines net premium written. The Group, rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company, has over 3.9 million policies in force and operates in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Erie Insurance Group ranked 488 on the FORTUNE 500. To learn more, visit http://www.erieinsurance.com.

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Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041112/ERIELOGO
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Erie Insurance

CONTACT: Vanessa Paris, Corporate Communications of Erie Insurance,
+1-800-458-0811, ext. 7568, +1-814-870-7568, vanessa.paris@erieinsurance.com

Web site:

http://www.erieinsurance.com/
http://www.erieinsurance.com/lookinout

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