SENNETT - There might be a speeding ticket or a stiff police warning over irresponsible driving that your teenager never told you about.
But a new voluntary notification program of Cayuga County law enforcement officials' traffic stops adds a way for guardians to keep track of driving privilege abuse. The program was officially launched Wednesday during a gathering at the Cayuga County Public Safety Building organized by county Sheriff Rob Outhouse.
Parents or other guardians voluntarily register a motor vehicle with the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office that is operated by anyone under the age of 21. A stop sign-shaped decal with a unique identification number is affixed to the awindshield above the vehicle inspection and registration stickers and alerts an officer to the car's registration in the Sheriffs Telling Our Parents and Promoting Educated Drivers (STOPPED) program.
Parents will be notified by telephone, e-mail or snail mail about the time and location of the traffic stop, the driver's name and numbers of passengers, reason for the stop and whether any traffic tickets were issued.
“It's not us ratting to your parents,” Outhouse said. “But it's an obligation when you're out there driving a motor vehicle to drive responsibly.”
The program was the brainchild of Onondaga County Sheriff Sgt. John D'Eredita when his son turned 16 and he reflected on his own less-than-perfect driving at the same age.
Even with teen (vehicle) fatalities leading as the cause of death for youth between the ages of 15 and 20, he found no preventive program like STOPPED existed to provide youthful drivers with a visible reminder of parental driving expectations.
It's a way to monitor the angel and devilish driving habits young people have, the “one with parents and the one with themselves,” D'Eredita said during an interview following the announcement.
Onondaga County has had the program since 2001 and has 1,500 registrants.The program has spread to several other counties in New York and other states.
Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers, a Dewitt-based advocacy group for New York insurers, provided $6,500 in funding to seven counties to start the program, including Cayuga, Chenango, Delaware, Erie, Madison, Oswego and Rockland counties. Oneida County will also start the program through an Independent Insurance grant.
The Cayuga County Deputy Sheriff's Benevolent Association donated $1,500 toward the Cayuga County program.
The sticker's use in other counties and states ensures greater effectiveness of the program, said Warren R. Darby, undersheriff of the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office. Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of South Carolina are currently in the early stages of an evaluation of the STOPPED program for reducing accidents, Darby said.
One of the goals of the research is the potential development of an insurance reduction for participation in the program, he added.
“It makes sense to institute this program now,” Outhouse said. “It's springtime. There are new jobs out there for our youth. It's prom time. It's close to graduation.”
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
Parents or other guardians voluntarily register a motor vehicle with the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office that is operated by anyone under the age of 21. A stop sign-shaped decal with a unique identification number is affixed to the awindshield above the vehicle inspection and registration stickers and alerts an officer to the car's registration in the Sheriffs Telling Our Parents and Promoting Educated Drivers (STOPPED) program.
Parents will be notified by telephone, e-mail or snail mail about the time and location of the traffic stop, the driver's name and numbers of passengers, reason for the stop and whether any traffic tickets were issued.
“It's not us ratting to your parents,” Outhouse said. “But it's an obligation when you're out there driving a motor vehicle to drive responsibly.”
The program was the brainchild of Onondaga County Sheriff Sgt. John D'Eredita when his son turned 16 and he reflected on his own less-than-perfect driving at the same age.
Even with teen (vehicle) fatalities leading as the cause of death for youth between the ages of 15 and 20, he found no preventive program like STOPPED existed to provide youthful drivers with a visible reminder of parental driving expectations.
It's a way to monitor the angel and devilish driving habits young people have, the “one with parents and the one with themselves,” D'Eredita said during an interview following the announcement.
Onondaga County has had the program since 2001 and has 1,500 registrants.The program has spread to several other counties in New York and other states.
Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers, a Dewitt-based advocacy group for New York insurers, provided $6,500 in funding to seven counties to start the program, including Cayuga, Chenango, Delaware, Erie, Madison, Oswego and Rockland counties. Oneida County will also start the program through an Independent Insurance grant.
The Cayuga County Deputy Sheriff's Benevolent Association donated $1,500 toward the Cayuga County program.
The sticker's use in other counties and states ensures greater effectiveness of the program, said Warren R. Darby, undersheriff of the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office. Researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of South Carolina are currently in the early stages of an evaluation of the STOPPED program for reducing accidents, Darby said.
One of the goals of the research is the potential development of an insurance reduction for participation in the program, he added.
“It makes sense to institute this program now,” Outhouse said. “It's springtime. There are new jobs out there for our youth. It's prom time. It's close to graduation.”
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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