Women in Northern Arizona have launched a website www.awomansrighttolight.com and are asking women throughout the country to support their efforts to get a law passed in Arizona -- and hopefully in each state -- guaranteeing a woman the right to get to a lighted area when she is being stopped by law enforcement at night on a dark road. Reports of police impersonators in the Phoenix area, and in other parts of the country, have made women more aware of the dangers of stopping on dark, deserted roads. A recent case in Cottonwood, Arizona brought the whole issue to the front pages of local and state newspapers and prime time TV news.

On July 29, 2007, Dibor Roberts, a 48 year old black female nursing student, an African born woman naturalized in the US in 2006, was driving home from her job as a nursing assistant at 10:30PM. A Yavapai County Sheriff's deputy says he clocked her speeding on Beaverhead Flat Rd., a dark stretch of unlit road. He came up behind her, turned on his lights. Ms. Roberts says she was afraid to stop in an unlit area and wanted to get to a lighted area. She signaled through her window when he pulled alongside her vehicle, but the officer says he did not understand.

This Could Happen To Any Woman
According to Roberts, she had seen recent reports of police impersonators and she was afraid to stop on the dark road. She stopped at the STOP sign on her way to a lighted intersection but the Deputy cut her off forcing her to stop before reaching the lighted area, approached her car with gun drawn, broke her rear passenger window, took her cell phone and threw it on the ground, pulled her from her car and handcuffed her. She was charged with assaulting the officer, fleeing and resisting arrest. The assault charge was dropped. She was convicted on May 16 of resisting arrest and fleeing. Many in the community supported Dibor Roberts realizing that this could happen to any woman.

The Sentence
The judge seemed to recognize the harshness of the charges and sentenced her to 6 months unsupervised probation and reduced one charge to a misdemeanor. Dibor Roberts was not fleeing - she was afraid and was trying to get to a lighted area. The felony conviction compromises her ability to pursue her nursing career and has already resulted in revocation of her driver's license which makes her travel to school more difficult.

Recommendations Are Not Law
The police recommend that women go to a lighted area but the officer in this case did not allow her to do that. Until it is a law, women are not protected from police impersonators or from officers exerting unnecessary force in making a routine traffic stop.

While "A Woman's Right to Light" campaign is starting in the State of Arizona, we invite women and men everywhere to sign the online petition, support our efforts, and perhaps begin the call for similar legislation in your own states.

The Online Petition States:
"We, the undersigned, call on the Arizona Legislature to pass a law that states that a woman has the right to drive to a lighted, populated area when being stopped by law enforcement at night, for her safety and that of the officer. The woman would be required to signal the officer by turning on her hazard lights and reducing her speed to a specified limit to communicate her intention to stop in a lighted area. Such a law would be included on the state motor vehicle website and in all materials published for driver's education."

Check out the Website at www.awomansrighttolight.com. For more information, email Barbara Litrell, Friends of Dibor Roberts, blitrell@aol.com.

Barbara Litrell Bio:

Barbara Litrell currently serves as President of Keep Sedona Beautiful Inc., Sedona's premier conservation organization of over 600 members dedicated to preserving the wonder of Sedona through all practical means.

She is also president of her own company, B. Litrell Communications Corp., an advertising, marketing, event and conference planning firm. Her communications expertise was developed over 28 years in advertising with The New York Times and as publisher of national magazines including McCall's, Working Woman and Working Mother. Her career began as a French teacher.

In October 2002, her company co-produced the first-ever conference focused on women, business and spirituality in leadership roles. The conference was on the leading edge of the movement to recognize and empower women leaders as the agents of transformation in business. Nationally, Litrell served on the Office Depot Women's Advisory Board and as an advisor to Boardroom Bound, a not for profit whose mission is to advocate for and prepare women for corporate boards. She currently serves on the national board of FutureChurch.

Litrell and her husband Michael moved from New York to Arizona in March, 2002. They have homes in Cornville and Sedona. She is also a licensed real estate agent.

Awards for Community Service

2003- Verde River Citizens Alliance Annual Civic Award for meritorious contributions to preserving water

resources in the Verde Valley

2004- Good Morning Sedona award for inspirational community leadership

2005- Ruth K. Birkner Leadership Award

2007- Sedona Community Foundation Spirit of Sedona Award-Volunteer of the Year

2008- Gardens for Humanity Visionary Leadership Award

Contact Information: 928-649-0135 (phone), 928-300-5839 (cell), blitrell@aol.com

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