Victim's Mom Pushes For Emergency Contacts Bill

[The Straight Story]

Victim's Mom Pushes For Emergency Contacts Bill

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A local mother lost her son a year ago in a car crash -- and wasn't notified until nine hours after the crash.

Linda Weustenburg's son didn't have any emergency contact information on him at the time of his crash, making it difficult for authorities to contact his family, NBC 4's Tacoma Newsome reported.

"When I contacted the … sheriff's department and I found out that all they had to work with with anyone is the address on the driver's license," Wuestenburg said. "People move, people live alone and it's just not enough information for them to be able to accurately locate people."

The Ohio House voted Tuesday on bill that would allow residents to voluntarily include emergency contact information with their records at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2008-02-19-0005.html

[CC]

1. That works it you have a

drivers license or state ID and is a good idea that shouldn't be that hard to do. Most kids do not have any ID on them if they are not driving or learning to drive.
I have friends whose 15 year old son was killed in a car crash with 3 other kids. They didn't find out until the next afternoon.He had a wrestling match the next morning so was suppose to be home early. His bedroom door was shut when they got home around 10 so they thought he had gone to bed already. When they peeked into his room it looked like he was in bed. (He was 15 and had a 15 year old busy boys mess of a bed and room.) When they got up the next morning to get ready for the match they discovered no kid. Their first thought was oh no, he pulled an all nighter for the first time (she had 3 older kids) and was he in trouble. They started calling friends houses and either they didn't know where he was or no one was home. Then they started driving. Sometime in the afternoon they decided to go home and get lunch and try thinking where he could be. That is when they saw the morning paper about a crash, had a terrible feeling and thought they recognized the car. They started calling the police then the hospital and ended up at the hospital identifying him there. The ones not home were coping with losing their kid or at the hospital with the one survivor and dealing with their shock/grief. Since I know them too no one is sure or remembers if they ever ask them who the other boy was. Aaron never had a license and at 15 no ID on him. Who thinks about under age kids having ID on them?
The kids were on their way to Aaron's house to take him home about 9 PM when they were hit head on by a drunk driver whose SUV then drove over the top of the car crushing it. They were only about 2 miles from his house. Four kids were killed that night, the oldest was 17, the youngest 15. A 14 year old survived with with severe head injuries and is still recovering even after 7 years come March 4. He will never be the same. The drunk driver was also killed, he was all of 25 years old.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. Another really good idea is to have everyone program

their home or emergency number into their cell phones under ICE - In case of emergency. A ton of young people have phones nowadays.