Sunday, February 10, 2013

Do 'Be on the lookout' Silver Alert warnings work?

When an 86-year-old Glen Rock man disappeared after leaving a relative’s home one evening two years ago, his family searched, police searched and — in a novel approach at the time — motorists across New Jersey were asked to be on the lookout.


TARIQ ZEHAWI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A silver alert on a sign at Routes 4 and 208 in Fair Lawn.
 An alert comes about every two days.

Signs up and down New Jersey’s highways the next morning flashed the words “Silver Alert” along with a description and license plate of Edmund Ommundsen’s car. A woman responded, informing police that he had asked her for directions to Hoboken the previous night.

Ommundsen, who had become disoriented from an undiagnosed infection, was found the following night by a Connecticut state highway trooper when his car ran out of gas on an interstate near Andover, almost 150 miles away.

While the woman’s report to police didn’t immediately lead to his rescue, Ommundsen’s son, Glenn, was grateful someone had noticed the signs and called authorities. As the 30 hours of worry went on before his father was found, the family was comforted to know “there were other eyes out there looking for my dad,” he said.

Full Article & Source:
Do 'Be on the lookout' Silver Alert warnings work?

3 comments:

stewart said...

Alot of us see those flashing signs and tend to be distracted by them and as a result we try to keep our attention at the task at hand, driving.
Most of the time the bored sign operators remind us that its 'Click it or ticket' as a reminder to wear a seat blet as well as other information like road conditions ahead, even minutes travle time to destinations up ahead.
And as we become some what complacent, Silver Alerts, even Amber Alerts jog our awareness as we pass by the signs at road speed.
How does one make a mental note of the details in a second or two? Make model license #? Even if there is an alert passenger on board?
To be sure it is a great tool, but I think its best it not be used as the only tool, these alerts could best be used in concert with radio alerts that can perhaps interrupt AM/FM signals with an audible alert signal before a message is broadcast like the Emergency Broadcast System already does?
Des[ite any short comings the current systems have, combined they are a usefull tool.

Thelma said...

I don't think the highway is the best place for alerts.
PSA alerts on radio and TV would capture listeners' attention, where road signals could be a driver distraction.

Betty said...

I do think people try to read the names when they're driving, so the signs may be more effective than we know.