Jaimie Etkin: The Devil Wore Manolos
Teen Drivers in New Jersey Balk at 'Scarlet Letter' Decals
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
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ReaderComments (Page 4 of 9)
6-09-2010 @ 4:53PM
jOHN said...Who's bright idea was the decal? I can see the graduated license, & think that's a good idea, but decals iding minor drivers? NOT a good idea. I'd really like to see how the local pd got stat's saying it cut accicents by X%, & have them explain it in simple english. If you think somebody is breaking the underage driving laws, pull 'em over & check! Sure, the deal simplifies the id job, but it stigmatizes the teen driver at a time when more pressure is REALLY NOT NEEDED!
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6-09-2010 @ 4:46PM
Jeremy said...This from the state that thinks people are unqualified to pump their own gas. New Jersey the Mafia State.
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6-09-2010 @ 4:46PM
gmc said...Age and gender have nothing to do with it. Some people are good drivers and some people are rotten drivers.
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6-09-2010 @ 4:47PM
tynerkelly said...Teen drivers suck. Everybody knows it. At least with a sticker you can look out for them. The driving age should be 18 in every state.
Parents...if you want not have to drive kids places until they are 18 don't have kids. Your job is to make them as safe as possible until they are an adult.
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6-09-2010 @ 5:26PM
Jon said...Could not agree more. Especially in Texas. They have Mom and Dads coverage. Insurance , and car. No worrieis . They should be required to Be Legal age period. In every state.
6-09-2010 @ 4:51PM
Anna said...Hey, lets just not let teens drive till they are adults and 21 years old. Case solved. My car was totalled by a teen just over a year ago. The insurances would go down. Teens don't work anyway right now. Ride a bus to school. Can't tell you how many times I've been almost run over by a teen trying to hurry out of school. They spend all their time chatting on a cell phone while they are driving. Geez! I'm ready for them to be off the road.
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6-09-2010 @ 4:56PM
Kristen said...Just to clarify: the law only applies to drivers aged 17-21 who have a Graduated driver's license with restrictions. If a seventeen year old completes a year of safe driving and receives a full, unrestricted license they no longer need to have the decal. Not saying I agree with the law at all, but just wanted to point out that drivers with an unrestricted license aged 18 and over don't have to worry about this.
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6-09-2010 @ 4:55PM
HaditwithNJ said...What is this scarlet letter? I don't see any letters on license plates just a red square. Is it the letter J for juvenile?
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6-09-2010 @ 4:55PM
Robert said...As a 30 year veteran police sergeant (now retired) I think this law is plain stupid and just one more infringement on our liberties. If a cop sees a bunch of teenagers driving around after curfew, he has the RIGHT to check them out...no need for the public at-large to know that there is a minor in the car. If a teen gets caught off-base, he loses his/her license. How about putting stickers on every car where the driver just came out of a bar (so everyone would KNOW to stay clear)?
I am against typical knee-jerk reactions and believe that if the police merely enforce the laws on the books, and parents only give the keys to responsible teens, we should be OK.
Also, instead of just concentrating on red lights or (minimal) speeding violations, how about strict enforcement of tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic lanes and NOT yielding right of way to pedestrians? I am SURE that more accidents occur by the hands of these idiots.
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6-09-2010 @ 4:57PM
ann marie said...I am a grown woman with 3 girls whom I went thru the same thing with driving as I stated Just becasue you past your test doesn't mean you have the skill down pat. I feel though if we could find a safer way to do this (do to the pervs and preditors)out there I am all for it. Esp. today when everyone drives with cell phones in their ears. Driving takes years of Practice not just a trip one time down the pkwy.
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6-09-2010 @ 4:59PM
Robert said...Oh, and I forgot one important thing.(someone already mentioned):
If everyone is up in arms over the new Arizona law that requires proof of citizenship, what the hell is the difference with asking young drivers to identify themselves by a sticker? Isn't THAT ACTIVE profiling by the government?
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6-09-2010 @ 5:00PM
alec said...the cops say it went down 25% they are wrong. in a mounth it will be back up.
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6-09-2010 @ 5:05PM
samsa2001 said...I don’t think this should be a teenage thing but more of a new driver thing. In European countries no matter your age for the 1st 2 years after receiving your license you must have a sticker in your back window that indicates that your a new driver. You must also drive in the slow lane and at the speed limit. If you are caught not obeying the law your license is suspended and your time starts over.
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6-09-2010 @ 5:05PM
karen said...Stickers for those with moving violations would make more sense. Some for the annoying drivers out there and those who multitask at the wheel wouldn't hurt either.
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6-09-2010 @ 5:07PM
Kevin Brown said...Oh for God's sake do you really think that all of these criminals are out there waiting for the opportunity to track down your precious teenage daughter by her car decal...wouldn't they be better off just looking at who the driver is (much more likely scenario). If you don't approve of the law fine (I think it is kind of a silly law) but don't claim it threatens teenagers safety.
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6-09-2010 @ 5:07PM
LivingInNJ said...I'm in my 60s with no teen children. IMO, it's an open invitation to all the pedophiles. If you're driving another car, I don't think that you'll have the time to notice any red sticker as the "inexperienced" teen flies through a stop sign and hits you. So that argument's pretty lame. And they attach with velcro -- you think that Johnny Delinquent won't pull that off before taking off with 3 or 4 kids in the car? As for the Nazi thing, that's a ludicrous stretch of the issue. I'm just fearing the day that all of our esteemed politicians wring their hands in unison after a young girl gets followed and killed by some pervert. Then they can name another law after her!!! Great. Let's repeal it now.
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6-09-2010 @ 5:12PM
Jo Ann said...When I found out about the law prior to the start date I was glad. After driving with my 16 year old daughter on Rte 35 in Holmdel NJ with the sticker on the car. Which also allows other drivers to know that they are new drivers and to please have patients. The driver behind her was tale-gating her that you could not even see the plate number on the car. She then flew around my daughter and cut her off just missing the front passengers corner of the car.
Why not give the children their permits at 15 and their license at 17 given them 2 years of driving in all weather conditions and more experience behind the wheel. I think that this would be the better approach in protecting our children from fatal accidents.
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6-09-2010 @ 5:15PM
Pecuniary said...Maybe overweight drivers should have a McDonald's sticker on the back so that other drivers know they may be driving fast, hence dangerously, to get to a McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's drive-thru window. (i am kidding)
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6-09-2010 @ 5:18PM
williamdaley said...This is ageism (discrimination based on age) and should not be allowed any more than racism or sexism is allowed. The National Youth Rights Association has more information. There is no cost to become a member. Parents, be a role model and help your kids protect their rights. You do not need the government telling you how to parent.
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6-09-2010 @ 5:19PM
jon said...what rock are you under? Pedophiles. Must be the brain cells not getting enough air to breath..................Moron, everything underage is a target for them? Geee! Bet no one has thought of that . Including them.
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