By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS – Young drivers ages 15 to 24 caused 653 crashes in Cass County in 2005. Thirty-nine of these crashes involved alcohol.
These drivers account for 13.2 percent of the county population, but are responsible for a disproportionate 24.87 percent of total crashes and 28.88 percent of crashes involving alcohol.
Protecting inexperienced drivers ages 16 to 21 is why a coalition of educators, law enforcement and the Secretary of State's office convened for the STOPPED kickoff Wednesday at the Cass County Sheriff's Office.
STOPPED stands for Sheriffs Telling Our Parents and Promoting Educated Drivers.
As Sheriff Joseph M. Underwood Jr. explained, STOPPED aims to reduce risky driving in general and specifically traffic crash injuries and deaths among teenagers and young adults.
"The risk for motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than any other age group," Underwood said, citing 2003 National Center for Health Statistics.
"A 16-year-old driver is seven times more likely to crash than a driver 25 to 29 years old."
"Dowagiac Police Department is committed to working with the sheriff's department," said Sgt. Steve Grinnewald. "I can't count the number of times during my career that we've had parents on different complaints who had no clue what was happening. Parents want to know, and they need to know. We had an incident just outside of town back this spring where one individual was killed in a car crash. Not that this would have prevented that, but to watch what families went through dealing with that, this can only help."
Two county commissioners, Gordon Bickel, R-Porter Township, and Dale Lowe, R-Niles, attended.
In both their areas, school districts such as Constantine, White Pigeon, Three Rivers or Niles Brandywine straddle county lines.
Eight counties participated in the pilot program, including Van Buren County, with Cass County, Berrien County and St. Joseph County part of a second wave of 17.
Statewide last year, 1,682 fatal crashes claimed 2,825 lives. The 592,671 reported crashes injured 91,333 people with an economic impact on Michigan counties estimated at $9,366,721,300, according to 2004 Office of Highway Safety Planning (OSHP) statistics.
Drivers ages 15 to 24 were responsible for 138,975 Michigan crashes in 2005. There were 1,682 fatal accidents statewide last year. Of those, 362 occurred when a driver under 25 took the wheel. These drivers represent 15.4 percent of Michigan licensed drivers, yet account for 23.4 percent of all crashes.
"It's not always about alcohol," Underwood said. "It's about being a young, inexperienced driver."
"Promoting educated drivers means going out to all the school districts," which except for Dowagiac have school resource officers. "Talking to the SADD groups and the PTOs, service clubs. And talking to our young people. It's not about spying on them, it's about telling them we care enough to get an extra set of eyes out there, so if they get in an accident or get stopped for a traffic ticket, there's going to be another step involved. We're going to let that registered (vehicle) owner know that on this date it was stopped.
"One of the things we've found with the parent notification system," Underwood said, "is that parents think 93 percent of their kids buckle up all the time; 46 percent say their kids never speed; and 92 percent say their kids never drink and drive. But 39 percent of the kids say they regularly drive without their seatbelts, 77 percent say they speed when driving and 21 percent say they drink and drive. What parents think versus what's actually happening is a big difference."
Parent notification is voluntary and "not intrusive," the sheriff said. "Most of all, it's free," thanks to a AAA Michigan grant. "It establishes partnerships between parents and law enforcement. It identifies potential problems and presents opportunities for corrections. It enables enforcement of parents' rules. A parent will take one of these brochures, fill it out, mail it in to the state or drop it off here at the Sheriff's Office. It's not just effective in Cass County. They could be traveling to other counties. If that kid looking up in the left-hand corner of their windshield sees that STOPPED sticker, maybe it will help them slow down or be more observant. We're not trying to be intrusive. We just want to continue to wrap our arms around them and show them we care."
Cassopolis Public Schools requires a parking sticker for a vehicle to be on its campus. Permit forms must be signed by parents, so officials plan to send STOPPED brochures as part of their parking paperwork.
"I see it as a tool especially for young female drivers," Underwood said. "Sometimes that boyfriend wants to drive their car. They don't have to give in to that peer pressure because their parents are going to be notified if they're stopped. Even if a ticket is not issued, we find kids may or may not tell their parents. The survey showed 75 percent of the kids would not tell their parents if they were stopped by the police. Sometimes the parents find out when they get ready to renew their insurance."
Marcellus Community Schools Superintendent Mary Cooper, accompanied by Nanette Pauley, Volinia principal, commented, "More than anything, I would want to know my children are safe. There's real pressure on girls for boyfriends or someone else to drive their cars. The big thing we see in schools is the lack of fear, believing that nothing is going to happen" because teen-agers feel invincible.
Cooper's mother was the first female adult probation officer in Kalamazoo. "When I was 16, coming down the hill on E. Main Street a little fast, I got pulled over. The officer suggested I get on the phone and talk to her before he got to her. That had a lot of power. This is a full circle. It's not open-ended."
"When the sheriff calls, I come running," said Cassopolis Superintendent Greg Weatherspoon, because "there's no way I can do this on my own or assign it to my school resource officer (Deputy Jerome Bryant). He drills it in deeper inside the school setting. Our kids when they get into the car, there are more than just the driver. That factor goes up exponentially."
"We cover 138 miles of roadway in our school district," Weatherspoon said. "In a rural setting, we send our high-achieving students out in cars. I have students going to Berrien Springs (to the math and science center at Andrews University), to Lake Michigan College and Southwestern Michigan College. We don't provide the transportation, so students drive and increase the factor. The more eyes watching, the safer our kids will be, so I endorse the program wholeheartedly."
Lt. Mike Brown, commander of the Niles state police post, agreed that "kids are mobile nowadays. We're happy to participate."
Edwardsburg-Ontwa Township Police Chief Kenneth Wray said too many parents "don't realize what their children are up to. We see this every day – especially young drivers. It's very important we're out there helping lend an eye to their safety. The safety of our children is why all of us are here."
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land was represented at the press conference in the squad room by Jesse Colon of the southwest Michigan regional office in Grand Rapids. He said STOPPED materials will be available at the branch office in Dowagiac.