HOWELL, Mich. — A law enforcement program that promotes safe driving among young drivers is getting a major upgrade.
S.T.O.P.P.E.D --Sheriffs Telling Our Parents and Promoting Educated Drivers -- is a parental notification system developed by the Michigan Sheriff's Association (MSA) ten years ago. It's finally being brought into the 21st century with the goal of reducing the number of drivers under age 21 involved in vehicle crashes each year.
A press conference was held at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office in Howell Wednesday morning to unveil the launch of the program at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office and Mason County Sheriff's Office.
"As soon as they get their driver's license, their percentage of being injured or killed goes way up," said Brad Neff, a deputy with the Livingston County Sheriff's Office.
How the voluntary program worked in the past is if a vehicle was pulled over for violations, a deputy would notify the owner of the registered vehicle through the mail which took up to a week.
"The deputies either forgot a lot of times to fill out the form or just didn't do it, quite frankly," said Livingston County Sheriff, Michael Murphy.
Now through a partnership with State Farm Insurance, notifications are electronic.
How it works is you go to www.misheriff.org and register your vehicle. An identification decal is then issued by MSA. The decal is placed on either the top or bottom left corner of the rear window.
The S.T.O.P.P.E.D. decals have a number on them which the deputy can punch into their patrol car. The parent will then be notified by the choice of text or email of the date/time, as well as the traffic violation.
Parents then can choose to either say something to their child right away or maybe sit on that information for a little while to see if the child decides to come forward on their own.
The program also has an analytics program built into it that the sheriff will be able to look at.
"How many stops were made under this program. Which deputies made those traffic stops, and then what we'll do is take that information and compare it with the Office of Highway Safety and Traffic and see if indeed there is a reduction in crashes involving the 16 to 21-year-olds.," said Blaine Koops, Executive Director of MSA.
The point is to get parents and their children talking so the kids will learn to become better drivers.
"It's proven that when you have enforcement, things tend to change," Murphy said.
If the program goes well, it could expand to other counties across the state.
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