New Hope-Solebury High School has won the 2022 Bucks County High School Seat Belt Safety Challenge.

The promotional competition, organized by TMA Bucks, requires students to use innovative ways to raise seat belt use across high school campuses countywide. Winners are determined by measurable increases in buckling up.

New Hope-Solebury’s teenage drivers demonstrated a 97 percent boost in the safety habit, the highest increase among all competing schools.

Truman High, Levittown, also distinguished itself with a notable percentage increase in seat belt use. Its five-percent click uptick (from 77 percent last fall to 82 percent this spring) was celebrated.

The 2021–2022 edition of the challenge marks its return to local schools after a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic.

Students were both strategic and creative in getting the message out about seat belt safety. The New Hope-Solebury team of student government leaders, for example, took to the parking lot as school dismissed and passed out rolls of Lifesavers. The candy was a tangible reminder of the power that lap and shoulder belts have in protecting drivers.

This latest competition cycle marked the fourth time New Hope-Solebury drove away with the top spot.

TMA Bucks also runs a video public-service announcement category for the High School Seat Belt Safety Challenge. Central Bucks High School – South snapped up that win earlier this spring.