Montoursville, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is pleased to announce the Montour, Lycoming, and Northumberland county winners of the Paint the Plow safety outreach contest.
Paint the Plow is a statewide outreach aimed at promoting winter driving safety and fostering appreciation for high school art programs and student creativity. The PennDOT District 3 program challenges youth to create an original rendering based on a provided theme that, if chosen as an area winner, will be painted on a PennDOT snowplow blade.
A panel of judges including PennDOT district and county maintenance employees, and a state trooper determined the winner for each area. Each winning design depicts this year’s theme of “Don’t Race. Allow Some Space,” which reminds motorists to give plow trucks and other vehicles on the road plenty of space to safely navigate winter weather conditions.
North Central Secure Treatment Unit in Danville, Montour County, won the Columbia and Montour County contest. Their plow depicts a winter scene with a driver on Interstate 80 with plenty of space around him.
For the second year in a row, Montgomery Junior/Senior High School won the Lycoming County contest. Their plow depicts both the unsafe and safe way for a vehicle to follow a plow during winter weather on one side, and their school mascot, a Red Raider, on the other side.
Also, for the second year in a row, Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School, Coal Township, won the Northumberland County contest. Their plow depicts a colorful car and a plow truck separated with the message “Don’t Race. Allow Some Space.”
The painted plows will be on display through the holidays at the Interstate 80 eastbound Rest Area in Montour County, then at their respective PennDOT county maintenance offices for the rest of the year.
PennDOT recommends motorists stay at least six car lengths behind a truck plowing snow. There may be blind spots where it is difficult for the plow operator to see the smaller vehicle. Never try to pass or get between several trucks plowing side by side in a "plow train,” and keep your lights on to help the operator better see your vehicle.
While PennDOT recommends not traveling during winter storms, motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,200 traffic cameras.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts.
More information about how to prepare for any type of emergency, including free downloadable checklists of items to keep in your home, car, and at work, and specific information for people with access and functional needs or pets, is available on the Ready PA webpage.
Find PennDOT news on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and find transportation results in Tioga, Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Union, Snyder, Northumberland, Montour, and Columbia counties at www.pa.gov/DOTdistrict3.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kim Smith, kiasmit@pa.gov or 570-368-4344
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