S.T.O.P.S, a teen driver safety program, launched by the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office

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Sheriff Steven McCain is excited to announce a new program that the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office is offering.  With thousands of new teen drivers hitting the roadways every year, and the latest national statistics showing an alarming increase in teen driver related fatal accidents, the S.T.O.P.S. program is intended to have an impact on teen driver safety. The program, which stands for Sheriffs’ Together with Our Parents and Students, serves as both a deterrent for risky driving behaviors and a resource for parents and their teen drivers.

 

The program works by parents/teens signing up at www.grantso.org – they then get a decal to place on the windshield of their car. If the teen driver is pulled over, the deputy communicates, back to the owner of the vehicle. The owners of the car are notified of the time and location of the stop, the driver’s name and a number of passengers in the vehicle, the reason for the stop and whether any citations were issued. This gives the parent the opportunity to have a conversation with their child about safe driving behaviors.

 

“It’s almost like having the parent in the car, even if a ticket is not written, the owner of the vehicle will be notified of the encounter”, says Sheriff McCain.  “Teens drive more cautiously when they have adults in the vehicle with them. Having the S.T.O.P.S. decal on the windshield is a constant reminder to teens that they should ALWAYS drive as cautiously as they do when their parents are in the car.”