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New Jersey To Begin Voluntary Collection Of Next-Of-Kin Info

TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) - New Jersey will soon become the seventh state in the nation to include emergency contact information on driver's licenses -- if you want to provide it.

Sara Dubinin died in a car accident four years ago, and it took two hours for cops to reach her parents. That's the impetus behind "Sara's Law," which will allow the state Motor Vehicle Commission to take down contact information for two people to be called in the event of an emergency.

"It would be accessed by very specific law enforcement personnel," says MVC spokesman Mike Horan, "and very careful in how the information would be provided, and so the public should have no concern -- those that choose to provide this emergency notification contact."

The enhancement will also be added to non-driver IDs from the agency, and those cards can be issued to people as young as 14.

The MVC has 18 months to put this into effect, and Horan says it will be included as part of an agencywide computer upgrade.

Delaware is developing a similar next-of-kin registry.

Reported by David Madden, KYW Newsradio 1060

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