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Internet To Help Identify Drivers' Next Of Kin

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 2, 2009

Updated: 01/02/2009 05:02 pm

TAMPA - For almost two days, the family of a 56-year-old woman who died after being rear-ended on Dale Mabry Highway late Wednesday was unaware of her death, officials said.

Troopers with the California Highway Patrol knocked on every door of an apartment complex there today until they found the brother of Chang Lee, who was fatally injured south of Van Dyke Road about 10 p.m. New Year's Eve. Authorities hadn't been able to locate a valid apartment number for the brother, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

State law prohibits investigators from publicly identifying a person who has died until his or her family has been notified. Extraordinary circumstances, such as family living out of the country, have caused authorities to release victims' names in the media without notification but only after exhaustive efforts, law enforcement officials say.

"It's really not an appropriate way for a family member to find out a loved one has died," Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

With that in mind, highway patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins today urged motorists to take advantage of the state's free "emergency contact enrollment program," available online and through the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

The program was established in 2006 through the efforts of State Representative Bill Galvano R-Bradenton, and a Manatee County woman, Christine Olson. Olson founded To Inform Families First after her daughter, Tiffany, 22, and her daughter's friend died in a motorcycle crash in 2005. Troopers located Olson roughly six hours after the crash because of a lack of contact information.

Other notifications take longer. Gaskins today released the name of Hubert Pinnock, a 78-year-old pedestrian killed Dec. 22 while trying to cross Interstate 4. Pinnock had no current address and no valid identification with him when he died. Troopers reached his daughter after nine days with the help of friends.

The enrollment program saves up to three phone numbers and two addresses for each licensed driver in the Driver and Vehicle Information Database, a secure system accessed by law enforcement. Drivers can update their contacts whenever they choose, Gaskins said.

As of April 2008, more than 1 million Florida drivers had registered emergency contacts in the program, according to the governor's office.

But there are still people who don't know about it, Gaskins said.

If a person's contacts aren't registered, investigators start tracking down relatives by visiting the address on a person's driver's license, Gaskins said. They also look at a cell phone, if available, to see if any numbers are labeled "Mom," "Dad," or "Home."

They run into problems if the address on the license isn't current or if the person lives alone. Neighbors occasionally offer clues.

"Bottom line, if the driver doesn't leave some bread crumbs for us to follow, it creates unfortunate delays in the notification process, which can be unsetting to all involved," Gaskins said.

BE PREPARED

Register your emergency contacts at https://www6.hsmv.state.fl.us/dlcheck/findcustomer... or in person at any Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles location.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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