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 5 of 9)

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6-09-2010 @ 5:21PM

rnrcorp said...

I grew up in England and moved to the states 30 years ago. When we learned to drive and had the "learner permit" we drove with a red "L" on the back of our car. Everyone presumed that an inexperienced driver was at the wheel and drove around them accordingly. The "L" plate is not specific to teenage drivers but to the experience level of who is driving.

6-09-2010 @ 5:22PM

Jane said...

Teens do not need decals to let other drivers know they're under 21.
The way they drive, we all know it anyway.
They shouldn't be driving until they're 21, period. Very few of them drive safely and with cell phones, they're worse now than ever.
Get pissed, it's true.

6-10-2010 @ 1:20PM

Thomas Frobose said...

I agree. People shouldn't drive till thier 21. This would also give a big boost to mass transportation as they would need to use buses, & trains to get around. Then maybe we wouldn't need to subsidize mass transport anymore, and taxes could go down.

6-09-2010 @ 7:08PM

David S. said...

Fine with me, Jane. But then we also have to swing the other way and say there is a cut-off at which a person is too old to drive. Do we want 80-year-olds on the expressway going 35 mph? If you set the standard for too young, there has to be one for too old. Give us the age, Jane. I mean, you know it all apparently.

6-09-2010 @ 5:30PM

kirsten1269 said...

Okay, we need stickers to tell us who is young? Why? If as a driver, you are paying attention to the road and not your phone, makeup, hurried lunch etc then hopefully you are doing what you are supposed to....WATCHING / LOOKING at what is going on around you. That sticker does not tell you who has more experience, less sleep, screaming kids, etc. This country is going way overboard in limiting and stereotyping its citizens. Lets go back to simpler times...when you were responsible for what you did, when you did, how you did it and why you are doing it. Enough political correct bs. There off the soapbox!

6-09-2010 @ 5:31PM

Teresa said...

It was not a teenager that almost hit me today due to talking on the phone and coming in my lane --- STOP --- it is not the teenagers that are in the traffic accidents that happen on the freeways in the mornings and afternoons --(Adults going to and from work ) NO TO THE STICKERS -- ONLY BAD WILL COME FROM STICKERS !!!!

By the way I am 52 years old --not a teen ----

6-09-2010 @ 5:34PM

Laccaro said...

This is just one reason I do not live in New Jersey.

6-09-2010 @ 5:32PM

RJ Bladl said...

Bottom line, it's the law, put up or shut up. If you don't like it then don't drive.

6-09-2010 @ 5:35PM

Wow....nice way to label folks. Tell me, what exactly is the difference between a teen driver and a 21 year old? Suddenly at 21 you instantly mature and drive better? What a hoot --- what next? Different color decals for old folks, minorities, gays? Get a life ---- sad the state legislature has nothing better to worry about than this. New Jersey has no other problems? Eh, I think we all know the answer to that one!

d1anaw said...

There is a solution. 16 year olds in today's world are not at the same level of maturity or responsibility of 16 yr olds when driver's licenses first started being issued. Perhaps if they don't want restrictions, don't want to be marked and don't want to abide by the rules, typical mentality for this age group, then the real solution is to change the driving age to 18. Many states have considered this and the graduated licenses were a means to bypass this idea. But as usual, the teenagers are balking at it. That shows they don't have the maturity to handle the responsibility of having what amounts to a lethal weapon in their hands. It is true that turning 18 does not guarantee maturity, but the majority of 18 year olds are considerably more mature than the majority of most 16 year olds. And 18 year olds have more obligations that require the use of a vehicle than 16 year olds. If they don't want to have to earn their way up, don't want to follow rules, then they aren't ready to drive. Simple. And maybe it is time for the states to start taking another look at that idea.

6-09-2010 @ 5:42PM

You are not a nice person. Go to Bagdad

Matt said...

Oh and btw.. to all those who think of this as age discrimination.. It kind of is but not in a bad way.. you are technically discriminating based on age but that's cuz young people are dumb and inexperienced! they don't know better... how bout this... let your 7 year old watch some porn... let your 5 year old down some vodka... let your 6 year old drive your car! you're thinkin "No! they're too young they shouldn't do that/ don't know better!" that's age discrimination too... this is just sayin that these kids are young and therefore inexperienced and generally bad drivers... it doesn't take away any rights.. it's just warnin everyone else.. like a construction sign lettin ya know that the roads gonna be blocked off or w/e... and btw... if i were a pedophile i wouldn't necessarily be worried about the age of the person driving as i would at thier looks >.>... i would take the hot 25 year old over the ugly 17 year old any day... simple solution.. tinted windows >.>... oh and btw im 19 so this whole age discrimination thing while i should be about it... im not... cuz this seems like a good logical way to go about this

6-09-2010 @ 5:43PM

stainedcreative said...

This is about as useful as a "Baby on Board" sign. If anything, letting someone know the car in front of them is driven by an underage person is going to cause them to be nervous and possibly a worse driver than they would be if they weren't worrying about the person behind the wheel. This could also open up teenage drivers to "road bullying," where a car full of overage--but still immature--passengers would heckle them on the highway; this type of thing has happened to me in SC, and we don't have anything like this.

You must know, their is always some idiot, that has nothing to do so they think up some stupid law, only to further their their job.with the state. Not to worry we will vote them out.

6-09-2010 @ 5:54PM

scrmbldegs2010 said...

Sorry, kids, but if a red decal identifying a driver as a teenager has cut teen fatal accidents by 25%, I'm all in favor of it, regardless of objections. Life is precious, but particularly our childrens' lives.....and yes, kids, teenagers are still children no matter how physically big they may be or how "adult" they may behave. University scientific tests involving brain scan research on large numbers of teens have shown a teen's brain is not fully developed. The tests show the average age for humans to acquire a fully developed brain is 22 years. Before that time, humans are not capable of recognizing possible consequences from their actions. So....yes.....a red decal on a license plate is a good beginning.

6-09-2010 @ 5:56PM

Thumper said...

And I would have to have it on my license plate should my child drive my vehicle?

6-09-2010 @ 6:01PM

MTM said...

This is needed, just as states have given special plates to those convicted of DUIs.

To think that someone will follow you home because of a decal on your plate, you simply assume they can't look at you and figure out you're not 30? Get over it. And for those who feel they shouldn't follow the law, once caught, they need to lose their license until their 21 do to their failure to follow the law.

6-09-2010 @ 6:55PM

mark said...

Driving is a PRIVILEGE...not a RIGHT. If you have a problem with this then wait until you are 21 to get a license. Contrary to popular belief, we are not yet entitled to every little thing. SOME things must be earned.

6-09-2010 @ 11:50PM

Cynthia said...

I don't think it's a great idea. There is too much potential for abuse.

I'd rather see people concentrate on defensive driving. Treat every other car with caution and pay attention to what you are doing. I know that's not completely foolproof but it sure beats the hell out of the craziness and downright rudeness I see on the road.

6-09-2010 @ 6:06PM

ronald said...

a dumb sticker wont save your life the 16 yearold girl will still die with that sticker in place day or night people die weather dumb drivers like it or not

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