BRADENTON, Fla. — A Bradenton mother is determined to make sure other families are notified immediately if a loved one is hurt in a car crash.
Christine Olson waited more than six hours to find out her daughter, Tiffany, died in a motorcycle crash in 2005.
The crash happened less than 15 minutes away from her home on US-19 in Palmetto.
“My purpose and passion and everything I do and breathe is making sure what happened to me never happens again,” said Christine Olson.
It took troopers hours to locate Olson at the time of her daughter’s death. There was no emergency contact system in place.
“They’re working with a name and an address. If that address on your license is not correct or if there is nobody home, what do you want law enforcement to do?” said Olson.
More than 12 years later, 13 million drivers in Florida are registered with a database Olson created. She had the help of Representative Bill Galvano and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
It’s called TIFF. It’s short for “To Inform Families First.”
Drivers in Florida and six other states (Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Indiana) can register important contact information in case of an emergency. The information is linked to your driver’s license.
“Scanning it like a credit card and you’re emergency contacts anywhere in the country come up immediately,” said Olson.
Signing up is easy. Go to www.toinformfamiliesfirst.org. Pick the state where you live. It asks for your driver’s license number and date of birth. The website will prompt you to add emergency contact information.
This past Memorial Day, Tiffany would have turned 35-years-old.
“The purpose behind TIFF is to take it across our nation and possibly around the world,” added Olson.
A mother’s work is never done. Olson will not stop until every driver is registered.
“Don’t let what happen to me, happen to you,” she said.
“Would she (Tiffany) be proud of me? I hope so. I get little messages here and there, but I hope so,” said Olson.
