For Teen Drivers, Mom's Monitoring

Bumper Stickers Allow Other Motorists to Tattle

Susan Blocker's 16-year-old son, David Brooks, got his driver's license in October. But she is still a little concerned about him driving on his own. So they recently agreed on some rules: The first time someone calls about him driving poorly is grounds for a warning, or talking about it. The second time his driving privileges get restricted. And the third time means no driving for a while.

So why is Blocker, who lives in Seffner, Fla., so sure people will call?

Since January, David has been driving around with a bumper sticker on his Toyota pickup. It says: 1-866-GO-GET-MOM.

Fellow motorists can drop a dime on him, as well as other teenagers with the bumper sticker, if the young drivers are speeding or otherwise behaving recklessly. Unlike the high-tech tracking devices that some parents have installed to monitor their children, "Go Get Mom" depends on good old-fashioned tattling.

Motorists have to give the state and license plate number before describing what they've witnessed. The automated system then zaps the message via phone and e-mail to parents within seconds.

"It's not a penalizing thing. It's more of an extension of being a parent for a little while longer," says Donna Graf of Valrico, Fla., the mastermind behind the bumper sticker.

In April 2003 her son was about to get his license when Graf, a consultant who handles licensing and annual reports for mortgage companies, realized there might be a way to monitor young drivers the way some truck drivers are with those "How's My Driving" stickers.

At her son's tennis lesson, Graf and a friend joked at the notion. But later that day, her husband, Jim, a mortgage executive, saw a real possibility. It wasn't practical to plan on manning motorist calls, the couple decided. So they sought out call centers. One in Canada recommended they consider using a voice recognition system instead.

In January, Graf's company, Go Get Mom LLC, based in two rooms in her home, went public with its bumper sticker campaign. Her son Michael, 17, wasn't too pleased to be the first teenage participant when he acted as a tester for the system last fall.

"I was just saying 'Not on my car,' " says Michael of his parents' idea. "But there's nothing you can do about it."

Jim O'Toole, a lawyer and director of the National Center for Youth Law, an Oakland, Calif.-based child advocacy law office, says Michael is pretty much on point.

Even if someone is over 18, O'Toole says, "Parents have a lot of rights over their children. . . . They get to make choices like this."

The bumper sticker is pretty hard to miss.

Right above the toll-free number in screaming red, the sticker announces: "TEEN DRIVER -- How Am I Doing?"