Posted on August 7, 2009

Suffolk Sheriff Vincent DeMarco joined Legislator Brian Beedenbender and Mothers Against Drunk Driving president Denna Cohen to launch a program to notify parents when law enforcement officers stop their children on the roads.

Through Sheriffs Telling Our Parents and Promoting Educated Drivers, families can register their cars with the sheriff’s department, who will supply red windshield decals to alert officers to contact the parents of young drivers whenever they are stopped by law enforcement officials.

“We hope it will be a deterrent because if a parent signs up for this program, they really are being very proactive,” DeMarco said at a news conference. “This gives the parent a tool to monitor them, and you would hope that the child knows that if they’re stopped that the parent will find out.”

Newsday.com reports that if an officer stops a marked car whose driver is younger than 21, the officer will report the details of the stop, including the number of people in the vehicle, the reason for the stop, and whether any tickets were issued. The officer will then send a notification through a phone call, letter, or e-mail to parents.

DeMarco said he would ask other law enforcement agencies on Long Island and in other states to honor the decal program. He said he is trying to make a dent in statistics that show that in 2007, 6 percent of licensed Suffolk drivers were between the ages of 16 and 20, and 14 percent of them were involved in accidents with injuries or fatalities.

“This will inform parents about risky behaviors,” Cohen said. “We need to let our parents know what their kids are doing on the roads.”

Beedenbender said the program has potential to save lives. “If you’re not going to drive appropriately and you’re not going to drive responsibly, you’re not going to drive at all,” he said. “Anything we can do to prevent more of our young people from passing away on the roads because they’re making poor decisions is certainly a great step forward.”