Ten months after that terrifying afternoon, Megan Brown still wells with tears when she reflects on the tragedy that might have unfolded. Her son, Mason Ott of Kansas City, North — who was 21 at the time and diagnosed with autism — found himself at the center of a tense police encounter just days before Thanksgiving last year. A local Kansas City police officer had attempted to pull him over for an alleged speeding violation not far from his Northland apartment.
Today, however, Brown also swells with pride. That near-tragedy has catalyzed meaningful legislative change in the form of Missouri’s newly signed “Mason’s Law.” Enacted in July under her son’s name, the statute is designed to help protect drivers with autism, special needs, and various communication disabilities during routine interactions with law enforcement. It is a legislative reform that Brown and other advocates hope will eventually serve as a nationwide model for improving public safety and police-community relations.
“I mean, I was fearful he could have been shot,” Brown said of the frightening event that ultimately inspired the state law, which was sponsored by Republican Representative Chris Brown of Clay County, who is no relation. “I just remember all that week thinking — especially with Thanksgiving that week — I remember thinking, ‘I could be without a kid.’”
42 MPH in a 35 MPH Zone
Ott’s harrowing experience highlighted a profound communication gap that can occur during traffic stops involving individuals with developmental disabilities. However, the incident has now paved the way for a new systemic approach. Soon, law enforcement officers across Missouri will be able to utilize vehicle license plates to immediately determine whether a driver has autism or other special needs that might prevent them from instantly comprehending or responding to an officer’s instructions.
The incident occurred around noon on the Monday before Thanksgiving, according to Ott’s mother.
Her son, she explained, has autism, though he is generally high-functioning. He attended Staley High School in Kansas City, graduating in 2022. During his time there, he served as an equipment manager for the school’s football team and actively participated in the student council.
Following his high school graduation, Ott enrolled in the University of Kansas’ two-year Transition to Postsecondary Education program, commonly known as TPE. The certificate program is tailored for young adults with intellectual disabilities, providing them with essential job skills and independence. He left the program having earned as many as 26 credit hours, his mother noted.
Today, Ott lives independently in his own Northland apartment and works at a local supermarket situated on North Oak Trafficway. He earned his driver’s license at the age of 18 and drives a white 2014 Ford Escape.
According to the account relayed to Brown by police, her son was driving alone in the Northland area on the day of the incident. He was traveling on Maplewoods Parkway, passing beneath the overpass where Missouri Route 152 crosses overhead.
A police cruiser was stationed nearby, and as an officer later explained to Brown, radar clocked her son traveling at 42 mph in a designated 35 mph zone.
“I was surprised, because Mason — he’s a rule follower,” Brown said. “He’s very diligent.”
Gun Drawn: “Stop! Stop! He has autism.”
When the police officer activated his vehicle’s flashing overhead lights, it set off a chain of events rooted in literal interpretation. Brown explained that she and her former husband had long instructed their son on what to do if police signaled him to pull over: he was taught to drive to a safe location before stopping.
A deputy later told Brown that her son did initially pull over to the side of the road, and the police officer pulled in directly behind him.
Looking back, Brown said she now recognizes the misunderstanding. Her son processes instructions with absolute literalness.
“We never said, ‘You need to stay there,’” she noted.
As the officer remained in his vehicle behind him, Ott simply pulled back onto the roadway and resumed driving, heading toward his apartment complex located about 1.5 miles away. He maintained a steady speed of 35 mph and used his turn signal the entire way.
“There was, like, no high-speed, nothing,” Brown said.
Ott eventually pulled his Ford Escape into the parking lot of his apartment complex, stopping near the front office. As police dashcam and body-camera video would later demonstrate, the officer followed closely, exited his cruiser, and immediately drew his service weapon.
“He has his gun drawn, going toward the car, ‘Get out with your hands up!’” Brown recalled. “Mason freezes, like he just freezes and doesn’t do anything. So then the employees of the apartment complex run out. They’re like, ‘Stop! Stop! He has autism.’
“The police officer responded, ‘Get back, get back,’ not knowing what was going on. Finally, it somehow got de-escalated.”
Following the tense standoff, the police officer, Ott, and the apartment complex employees went inside the complex’s main office to sort out the situation and contact Brown.
“I Just Started Bawling”
At the time of the incident, Brown was at work in Lawrence, Kansas. She received an initial phone call informing her that her son had been pulled over by police, though the full gravity of the situation had not yet been conveyed. Concerned, she called her former husband, Ott’s father, who lived closer to the scene. Shortly afterward, Ott’s father called her back with the alarming news that the officer had drawn his firearm on their son.
“I fell,” Brown said. “There were some stairs there, and I just fell. I was burying my head in this towel and I just started bawling.”
Over the subsequent days, weeks, and months, Brown sought answers. She requested and eventually received the police body-camera footage of the encounter. She also began discussing the incident with friends, including other parents of children with autism, recognizing the severe risk posed to individuals who might struggle to comply with rapid law enforcement commands during a traffic stop.
One of those parents was Lauren Ray of Kansas City, whose 17-year-old son, Sam, also has autism. While Sam does not yet drive, he may do so in the future.
“She wanted to share with me Mason’s story,” Ray said, “because she was worried that Sam would have reacted the same way, which I truly believe he would have.
“I mean, you always have that fear, as a parent, of how your child will react, whether they’re typical or atypical. But this situation never even crossed my mind. That’s why when Megan shared it, I was like, ‘We have to do something.’”
Ray took action by contacting her state representative, Chris Brown, whom she had known for years.
“Chris knows I have a son with autism, so he knew it was near and dear to me,” Ray said. “And he knew of Mason.”
Before entering the Missouri House of Representatives, where he has served for six years, Brown worked as a history teacher at Oak Park High School, where Ray had been one of his students.
Ray briefed Representative Brown on Ott’s unsettling experience. Although local police had offered Megan Brown standard safety advice for the future — suggesting that drivers turn on their hazard lights to signal an intention to comply — it felt insufficient for the broader safety concerns involved.
During her own research, Megan Brown discovered that Texas offers “autism awareness” specialty license plates. Furthermore, Texas allows drivers who are hearing-impaired or have communication disabilities to register their vehicles in a way that alerts law enforcement to their condition when running a license plate through computer databases.
A New System for Law Enforcement
With the state legislature in recess during December, Representative Brown promised to bring the issue forward when lawmakers reconvened in January. He kept that promise.
In March, both Megan Brown and Lauren Ray testified before lawmakers in support of establishing a comprehensive system in Missouri. The program would allow not only drivers with autism, but any individual with special needs or a qualifying disability, to register their vehicle confidentially with the Missouri Department of Revenue.
Under the provisions of the new law, a licensed physician must provide formal certification confirming that an “applicant or the applicant’s child, parent or spouse has a physical or mental health condition that is likely to impair the ability to effectively communicate with law enforcement.”
Additionally, the physician must certify that the individual’s communication impairment is expected to persist for at least five years. While the digital registration system is not yet fully operational, state officials expect it to be up and running by early 2027.
Once implemented, law enforcement officers using their in-car computers or the Missouri Unified Law Enforcement (MULE) system will be able to run a vehicle’s license plate and receive advance notice if the registered driver has a recognized communication barrier.
“I also have a niece and nephew who are not driving yet but are hearing-impaired and have cochlear implants,” Ray said. “So when I testified, I brought up those examples as well, because should their batteries go out or become broken, or they lose their cochlear implants — if a police officer was pulling them over, they’re not going to hear.
“I mean, it’s all aspects. If there’s a medical diagnosis — from a mental disability to a physical disability, or even PTSD — if you have a medical diagnosis that would hinder how you would respond in an emergency situation, it’s just — it’s a win-win for law enforcement and for the individual.”
Representative Brown shares a similar perspective on the legislation, emphasizing the grassroots nature of the bill’s creation.
“I’ve been in the Missouri House now for six years,” said Brown, who ran for reelection. “One of the cool things about this bill is it was absent lobbyists. It was absent big business. It was literally two moms — one of the moms had an unfortunate situation with law enforcement. It was so organic. They called me up and said, ‘Hey, we can do better.’ And I was like, ‘You know what? You’re right.’
“The hope is that it’s going to help law enforcement do their job better. It’s going to help them have a better understanding of possibly who is in that car or vehicle. And it’s obviously going to help protect people who are behind the wheel.”
For Mason Ott, who received no traffic citations as a result of the initial traffic stop, the legislative effort represents a welcome development. Asked about the new law bearing his name, he remarked simply, “It will be really helpful.”
Megan Brown expressed profound relief that her son remains safe. Until the state’s new database system is fully active, Ott uses a bumper sticker on his car that reads, “Autistic driver. Please be patient.” The sticker gives his mother mixed feelings; while it serves to raise public awareness, she also worries it could potentially make him vulnerable to individuals seeking to take advantage of him.
For now, Brown’s primary focus is spreading awareness about the new law, which she views as a vital safeguard for countless families across the state.
“I never expected it to be named after him,” Brown said. “When Chris Brown said, ‘We’re going to name it “Mason’s Law,”’ I just started crying. I just thought it was amazing.”
