News
Teens And Parents Speak Out Against Kyleigh's Law
By Anne Hendrick
There has been continuous controversy surrounding the driving law recently passed in New Jersey that has put new restrictions on teen drivers.
"Kyleigh's Law" is named after a 16 year old teen, Kyleigh D'Alessio, who was killed in a car crash in Washington Township, Morris County in 2006, where another teen was driving with two other teens besides Kyleigh in the car.
Drivers with probationary licenses are now limited to one passenger, and the curfew has been moved back one hour earlier at night. However, the most talked about issue over this law regards the requirement of any driver under 21 with a learner's permit or probationary license to display a red sticker decal on each of their license plates, identifying themselves as an underage driver. This law mainly targets new 17-year old drivers. These red decals encourage police profiling and discrimination, and place unreasonable restrictions on an entire group regardless of a teen's individual conduct.
Sarah Frank, a 17-year-old new driver and resident of Fair Haven, believes that the decals are discriminating against her and other young drivers by taking away their freedom, which was based on the conduct of the driver in the accident that killed Kyleigh, and not the entire young driver population. "I think it is unfair that we are being treated as children when many of us are going to be adults. We know how to handle ourselves, and we know the difference between right and wrong," said Frank.
Eve Critton, a 17-year old from Rumson, believes that the government is really the only group benefiting from this change.
"Government officials seem to think that they are doing what is in the 'best interest' of drivers - restricting those of us who are less experienced. But that 'interest' really only has the government in mind. They are the ones making the money off of the stickers, while the police are forced into repetitive and futile work, pulling over people for looking young, and the young people are forced to advertise their age at the risk of being taken advantage of by a predator."
Both girls agreed that they feel targeted while driving with the stickers on their car, which is a huge concern that has arisen from the change, especially among the parents of new teen drivers. Many parents believe that the decals put up a huge red flag that attracts predators to take advantage of their children. There are multiple Facebook pages against Kyleigh's Law, some with over 33,000 members, thousands of which are parents, pushing for the law to be repealed mainly for this reason.
"I understand why they are targeting the new drivers, but I think the negatives outweigh the positives," a mother of a teen driver from Fair Haven stated. "I don't support my daughter to use the red decals while driving because they could draw attention to her from people with ill motives." She also said that the issue of "distracted driving" should be the focus of law enforcement, not just with teen drivers but also with all drivers.
She believes this issue is much more important than where the focus is now.
New Jersey Senator Tom Goodwin of District 14 is in agreement with the many teens and parents that are spaeking out against Kyleigh's law, and is leading the repeal effort. Goodwin's repeal effort is backed by his online petition, which has already been signed by over 4,000 people. Each day the number of petitioners rises, which continues to show the increase in non-supporters of the law. To support Senator Goodwin's effort, go to goodwin.senatenj.com/decals/ to sign the petition.
For now, all teens with a probationary license are required to display the red decals, and failure to do so will result in a fine of $100. Parents and teens await the change of this law, and until then I think it would be safe to say that most teens would agree that $100 is a small price to pay in exchange for a fair and safe driving experience.
