Family Safety

Teen Driver Safety

Do you suffer from an anxiety attack every time your teen driver gets behind the wheel? The statistics compiled by the LSU Highway Safety Research Group in 2005 won't ease your mind. The results are that teen drivers in Louisiana are deadly.

 In Louisiana, drivers aged 18-20 have the highest fatality crash rate of all age groups, followed by drivers 21 to 24. The third highest fatality rate was among drivers 15 to 17 years old. Only 8% of Louisiana drivers are under the age of 20; however, they accounted for 13% of the fatalities in 2005. Young drivers involved in crashes used their seat belts at lower rates. Reasons cited for young drivers killed at such high rates were inexperience, alcohol, distracted driving, speeding and failure to wear seatbelts.

 One option available to parents to keep their teen drivers safe is the installation of a GPS tracking system. There are different types of tracking devices available. Some devices are real time trackers that provide location and information about the vehicle within 4 seconds. Other devices are considered data loggers which log the data such as location, speed and other vehicle information. The data loggers can be downloaded into your computer system. Some GPS trackers are hard wired into the vehicle which provides battery power to the system. Other GPS systems are portable devices which are attached to vehicles by a magnetic case. The portal GPS units have motion sensors and an estimated battery life of 16 - 150 hours depending on activity.

DLI sells GPS units for personal and business use. There are no contract requirements for the real time tracking of GPS units through the Internet. Please call DLI at (985) 262-1299 to find out more information about the GPS units.

Internet Safety

The Internet can be a wonderful resource for your family. Kids can conduct research for school reports, parents can communicate with teachers, and family members can play interactive games. Your family has access to the world at their finger tips ... and the world has access to your family.

A federal law, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), was created to help protect kids online. The law aims to prevent someone from obtaining a child's personal information without a parent's consent. COPPA requires websites to explain their privacy policies on the website and get parental consent before collecting data on children.But even with this law and others designed to protect your family online, your kids' best online protection is YOU!

Warning signs of a child being targeted by an online predator include spending hours online, phone calls from people you don't know, unsolicited gifts in the mail, suddenly turning off the computer when you enter the room, or withdrawal from family activities. Parents taking an active role in their kids' Internet activities will help ensure that they benefit from the wealth of information offered online without being exposed to the dangers of online predators.

Online protection tools are available that will allow parents to monitor and control your kids' access to adult material and protect them from Internet predators. DLI has computer software available that can assist parents in monitoring Internet activity. Please call DLI today at (985) 262-1299 for more information.

Sex Offenders

The latest National Survey confirms there are over 374,270 registered sex offenders in the U.S.  Does a sex offender live in your neighborhood?

 Several federal and state laws provide for the registration of sex offenders. The Jacob Wettering Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act was passed in 1994 which established guidelines for states to track sex offenders. During the early 1990s every state, along with the District of Columbia, passed a "Megan's Law." In January of 1996, Congress enacted the federal "Megan's Law" which provided for public dissemination of sex offender information from states' offender registries. In 2006, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was passed by Congress creating a baseline standard for jurisdictions to implement sex offender registration and notification.

 There are several public sources available through government websites to find sex offenders in your area. Links to these websites are provided below for your convenient reference:

·         United States Department of Justice | Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public website http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Conditions.aspx

·         Louisiana State Police - http://www.lsp.org/socpr/default.html