CLEVELAND -- Beginning Monday, any Ohio resident with a driver's license or state identification card can register information on how to reach family members or close friends in emergency.

By filling out a form at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Web site or at a deputy registrar's location, state residents ensure that a family member can be contacted quickly if they've been injured in a traffic accident, fire or some other emergency.

Only a handful of states have such a program.

The Ohio Legislature created the database earlier this year with help of a Franklin County woman who lost her 33-year-old son in a late-night car accident last year. Linda Wuestenberg didn't find out about the accident for seven hours.

People can register online, here next week.