Charlotte woman creates decals for drivers with medical, mental conditions

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Roughly 50,000 drivers a day in America and 20 million motorists a year get pulled over by police.

That is according to The Stanford Open Policing Project. Some of those drivers deal with challenges, whether physical or mental, that police don’t know about and could lead to bad situations.

Charlotte businesswoman Sharon Geter thought about that statistic and wanted to do something to help keep drivers safe.

“What could I do to help people in these situations when there is a medical or mental situation going on,” Geter said. “And police, Medic and firefighters and anybody who needs to know about it? So I came up with this idea to place this decal on the car, so it’s visible and can be seen from the rear.”

Geter’s decal is called Ident-Decal. It alerts law enforcement that the driver is facing challenges. Geter believes that decal can help first responders better access the driver.

“Just like the handicap placard you got that people see,” Geter said. “We automatically know what that is. The Baby on Board sign - they see that there’s a child in the car. Let’s be more cautious just asa preventative measure.”

Geter has presented her idea to local and state safety leaders. She says she received great feedback. Now, she has to find a way to have her decal recognized as an official sticker so law enforcement can identify it.

Geter’s family and friends have a decal. Her sister suffered a stroke and sometimes her driving is affected.

“Sometimes my sister is driving, and she’ll go across the line and then she’ll come back. She’s getting her mind together with what she’s doing. You can’t stop her from driving. She has to live. She has to go places and I want her to be safe when she does it,” Geter said.

Right now the decals are sold online but Geter’s vision is to one day have them handed out at hospitals, the DMV and other agencies that deal with drivers who may have physical or mental conditions.

“My intention behind the whole thing is somebody needs to make it home safely,” Geter said. “We don’t want any more situations where somebody is misunderstood.”

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