Teen Drivers in New Jersey Balk at 'Scarlet Letter' Decals

by Tom Henderson (Subscribe to Tom Henderson's posts)
Jun 9th 2010 4:18PM

Filed under: In The News, Teen Culture

New Jersey law requires drivers under the age of 21 to identify themselves with red decals on their license plates.

But many young people see the decals as scarlet letters, and, ABC News reports, more than half of them simply ignore the law.

Haley Callaway, 17, of Montclair, N.J., tells the network the law is not only embarrassing, but dangerous.

"It labels me as a minor," Callaway tells ABC News. "Someone could stalk me in a parking lot, then follow me home."

State legislators passed the law after 16-year-old driver Kyleigh D'Alessio died in a 2006 car accident along with two others.

The law has been in effect less than two months, and there are already bills in both houses of the Legislature to repeal it.

Law enforcement officials say repealing the law would be a bad idea. Even though it's in its infancy, police are saying it has cut fatal accidents involving teen drivers by 25 percent, ABC News reports. In addition to the new sticker requirement, New Jersey has had a Graduated Driver License program for nearly 10 years, which includes a driving curfew and puts limits on the number and ages of passengers allowed in a provisional driver's car.

Nonetheless, police admit they have trouble enforcing the program, ABC News reports. It is difficult to guess whether a young-looking driver is breaking the law by driving after curfew or ferrying too many young passengers.

Gone are the days when kids who got their driver's licenses when they were 16 could hit the road with the same freedoms as everyone else. Now every state, with the exception of North Dakota, has laws that dole out driving rights gradually until a person is 21, and there is talk in Congress of standardizing state requirements.

Meanwhile, New Jersey is the first state to attempt to physically mark young drivers for law enforcement.

"We could not afford to lose one more teen to a car crash," Pam Fischer, director of the state's division of highway traffic safety and chair of a commission that devised the decal law after studying the problem over six months, tells ABC News.

Tom Goodwin, a Republican state senator behind a bill to repeal the law, tells ABC News the law is a case of "good intentions, but unintended consequences."

Priscilla McAleney agrees. The mother to teen driver Abby McAleney, she tells the network her daughter has her blessing in ignoring the law.

"I just don't want somebody seeing her car in the parking lot," McAleney tells ABC News. "There's a 50/50 chance of it being a 17-year-old girl, and they can look in the car and tell it's a 17-year-old girl by what's in the car.''

Related: New Teen Driving Act Proposed to Help Save Lives

ReaderComments (Page 3 of 9)

Add Your Comments

6-09-2010 @ 3:53PM

Robert said...

Let me re-phrase that part about the stickers and drivers. I meant that to be I hope this is a start to help identify un-experienced drivers, teen, young adult, middle aged and elderly alike.

Not everyone is 16 when they get their license, some people wait until they are in their mid 20s or even in their 60's as my grandma did after my grandpa passed away.

This should also follow people with new Commercial Licenses, especially ones that went to a CDL Mill that is operated by Swift, Central Refrigerated or anywhere else that they give you the answers and get you a Commerical License in 2 weeks. That is not safe.

6-09-2010 @ 5:54PM

Roger Lee said...

Did anyone notice the "talk in Congress to standardize the State laws"....The Federal Government, which has difficulty running itself, is now going to dictate to the State?

How's the change working for ya?

6-14-2010 @ 7:16AM

mark young said...

Leave it to some bone headed politician to come up with this idea. I'll bet he thought he was going to stop "one more teenager" from being killed, but the fact is he's only going to make a whole bunch of teenagers "non-compliant." Enough of this "there otta be a law" nonsense, this is the United States, and you have more than the "right to comply". What happened to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? I'm glad I'm old enough that I won't live long enough for the total destruction of the American way of life, where one could choose to be dumb, and not face LEGAL actions by our Government of the people, by the lawyers, for the insurance companies. HELP!!! .

6-09-2010 @ 3:59PM

gorjing said...

Studies show. A piece of paper will lay there and let you write anything on. Studies will show anything you want them to.

6-09-2010 @ 4:11PM

H said...

This is total BS. The odds of anyone running into trouble with a younger driver are not that high when you take into consideration the other combined age group from 16 to 21 against 22 to 99 years old. The only good that will come of this is the increasing net worth of the company that will be hired to make the "approved" state stickers, a company that will be in the pocket of the polictian who enacted this law.

6-09-2010 @ 4:19PM

the one said...

Do you have a problem? Ask a teenager,they know everything.

6-09-2010 @ 4:21PM

Jo said...

Per the article -- Time was when kids who got their driver's licenses when they were 16 could hit the road with the same freedoms as everyone else. Now every state, with the exception of North Dakota, has laws that dole out driving rights gradually until a person is 21, and there is talk in Congress of standardizing state requirements.

Maybe what they should do is raise the age to 21 for everything. An 18 year can join the service, be shipped overseas, given a gun to kill with or be killed, but he can't drink till he's 21 and in his/her home state driving is restricted till he/she is 21. Are military men and women under the age of 21 allowed to drive a tank or fly a bomber airplane.

If Congress wants to sandardize things, they should take this into consideration. It's okay at the age of 18 to die in military service, but don't even think about drinking and make sure you abide by curfews when driving until you are 21. Some of our laws make no sense.

6-09-2010 @ 4:20PM

LESLI said...

Okay first off, I do not see how this cuts down on accidents. Its completely stupid. I live in Ohio and they have ways of showing on your license at what level you are at, by your pose in the picture and the background color in your photo. Putting it on the actual plate is kind of hit or miss as a lot of younger drivers use their parents car and don't have their own. As an adult who still looks very young, this is the last thing I would want at 36 years old, to be on my own car.

6-09-2010 @ 4:22PM

Kim said...

This is ridiculous. I'm 22, plenty young enough to remember being a teen driver. Maybe I'm the exception rather than the rule, but I think I'm actually more of a hazard on the road now than I was when I was 16. At that age, when I was first learning, I was scared to death, and was probably an overly cautious driver. Fast forward six years: Driving is as routine as brushing my teeth, and I've picked up a lot of bad habits and riskier behaviors now that my confidence has increased. In my own defense, in six years I have never had an at fault accident (Two very serious not at fault accidents, however), never had so much as a traffic ticket. My point is that there are probably plenty, maybe even a majority, of good, careful teen drivers, and stigmatizing them is not the answer.

6-09-2010 @ 4:25PM

reathea said...

Hang on, I see a major problem with this idea. What if I, as the mother, and well over the age of 21 am the principal driver, and allow my teenage daughter to drive the car occasionally? So I get a red decal on my license plate? This is a really ridiculous idea.

Dave said...

I agree that teen driving is a scary thing. But identifying them in such an obnoxious way will certainly make it easier for predators to identify them as well. We want safe teen drivers, not more teen victims.

6-09-2010 @ 4:29PM

Ian said...

This is absolutely outrageous! I am sick and tired of all these feel good, knee jerk laws that are supposed to protect us, but will not. It's illeagal for anyone under 21 to buy beer, but it happens all the time. What needs to be done is strict enforcement of the laws which are already on the books. If an officer stops a 17 year old with 4 other 17 year olds in the car, then there should be an automatic license suspension for 12 months for the first offence. I travel for business and drive around 60,000 miles per year. I can say with absolute certainty that a certain ethnic group are the worst drivers. They creep in the passing lane, cutyou off and turn without ever signaling. Even if this is proven to be factual, would we pass a law indentifying them with a certain sticker for their cars? Of course not, that would be discrimination. Same goes here for teens. Parents need to take responsibility for their kids. Teens need to be respectful of the road, and the rules that go along with it. Stop legislating us with unnecessary, feel good laws. They do nothing.

6-09-2010 @ 4:33PM

Matt said...

They have a similar program in Japan. They post a green and yellow arrow looking decal in the cars of "beginner drivers". In the event of an accident though, the beginner driver is never found at fault regardless.

6-09-2010 @ 4:38PM

b26g116 said...

Labeling teenage drivers as inexperienced sends a wrong messege to teenagers and older adults. I am not a teen, but even when I was I was a safe driver. Yes there are some that aren't safe, but the same can be said of elderly people and those in their 40s. Age doesn't matter when it comes to driving because not everyone is going to pay attention 100% of the time every time. People will mess up and some people don't care. If you don't go fast enough or if you go too fast people aren't happy because people are not considerate to others when driving. They are focused on getting themselves from point A to point B. I do not agree on labeling young drivers for people to see. They can be followed home by some pervert, or be cited in an accident that may not be their fault due to people that think just like the ones that decided they needed red stickers.

6-09-2010 @ 4:34PM

Ed said...

Who Cares New Jersey is the Azzhole of this country anyway

snake said...

make the leagal age to drive 21 with 3 years driving school

Michael gifford said...

actually only the ignorant and crybaby fear mongers are unaware that this kind of system has been used in Australia for decades without:
A. kids being discriminated against
B. pedophiles using the information to target kids

It has provided some much needed awareness of the kind of experience level and the 'learner" status has also allowed for a bit more compassion when said learner isn't driving the proper way...

and by the way...just a reminder, it isn't a "right" to drive, it's a privilege.

6-09-2010 @ 4:36PM

tracer said...

Oh cry me a river-Most teenagers should be walking because they are not capable of doing two things at once. Like driving a car and yakking on a cellphone or yakking with a carload of other mental midgets.

Lets take all cellphones away while they are handcuffed to the steering wheel and are only allowed to be in the moving automobile by themselves.

6-09-2010 @ 4:44PM

Elaine Francis said...

good idea...will help protect young drivers , whoi at that age feel they are immortal..been there -done that...did some stupid things
have patience and hopefully grow older without getting injured

6-09-2010 @ 4:51PM

HushLux said...

I am not sure what is so wrong. I keep reading comments about the sexual predators...But is it not just as easy for a sexual predator to look in the car window and see that it is a young female driver or young male driver?

These stickers make it easier for cops, which is great! Some teenagers look older for their age and older people look young for their age. It is hard for cops to enforce curfew laws and passenger laws if they cannot tell the age of the driver. Many accidents and reckless driving from teenagers come from them having more passengers than what is allowed and being egged on or trying to look "cool."

I myself am a young driver and I would be fine with this law. In Florida it is required for motorcycle drivers under 21 to have an "under 21 license tag" so that police are able to identify them and know that they should have their helmet on... And teen's not following this new law and their parents encouraging it? Are you serious? They are teaching their children that it is okay for you to not follow a law because you do not agree with it. So is it then okay for someone to go out and kill another person because they do not agree that is should be illegal to kill? Really?

This is also a good law so that the cops recognize who the young drivers are and if they are on cell phones...

Previous 20 Comments 1 234 5 Next 20 Comments

Hot on HuffPost Parents:

Teen Drivers in New Jersey Balk at 'Scarlet Letter' Decals