Bereaved Parents, Concerned Officials Start New Castle Campaign against Distracted Driving

Ben and Debbie Lieberman lost their 19-year-old son Evan in 2011 following a car collision caused by distracted driving.

They have since set up an nonprofit to combat distracted driving. It’s called D.O.R.C.s, which is short for Distracted Operators Risk Casualties, and which has a pithy motto: Keep the DORCs off the Road.

The organization is getting national attention: on the NBC Nightly News, in USA Today. Now it’s turning its attention to the Liebermans’ home turf.

The town of New Castle is implementing a “zero tolerance” policy for distracted drivers. The initiative includes banners, magnets and decals all over town, and police enforcement details starting Sept. 29.

“We believe there is a need to tackle distracted driving in a similar fashion to how drunk driving was addressed decades ago,” Ben Lieberman said in a press release about the local program. “When we as a nation finally understood how lethal drunken driving was, and how vulnerable the innocent population was, we were outraged enough to do something about this behavior, both legally and socially. In a lot of ways we need to show more urgency with this current threat because Smartphone technology is so new and it is constantly evolving.”

New Castle Police Chief Charles Ferry said his department will schedule two enforcement details a week for four weeks, then review the success.

“Our message is simple,” said Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein, “5 points on your license / 0 tolerance for distracted driving / 1 choice in New Castle!”