N.J. teen drivers' curfew begins Saturday

Parties in New Jersey will thin out an hour earlier this weekend as many young people head home to meet a new 11 p.m. driving curfew - in cars with red decals on their license plates.

The removable reflective decals, required under the state's so-called Kyleigh's Law, are intended to lower fatalities among inexperienced drivers and to make the novices easily identifiable on the road. New Jersey is the first state in the country to require the decals.

The regulation is among a number of provisions that go into effect Saturday for motorists under 21 who are subject to the state's Graduated Driver License program. After completing the program, motorists regardless of their age are no longer subject to Kyleigh's Law.

Many consider the restrictions - which reduces the number of allowed passengers - especially onerous in the suburbs, where a lack of public transportation makes cars just about the only way for high schoolers to get around. To upperclassmen, confronting their prom, graduation, and the final summer before college, the timing of the new rules feels almost cruel.

The decals are "just stupid," said Shana Mullen, a 17-year-old senior at Cherokee High School in Evesham, who thinks many young people will break the curfew.

"Most of our friends don't even go out until 10," said Mullen, who will be eligible for her basic driver's license in July. "I'm not going to stay at a party for 25 minutes" to meet an 11 p.m. curfew, she vowed.

Her friend, junior Patrick Beaver, also objects to the early hour. He normally works Friday nights until 10:30, then drives to his family's Shore home in North Wildwood so he can wake up first thing in the morning and go to a second job at a marina.

In an assignment to consider the tougher driving rules, Cherokee High teacher Olga Polites said her literature and journalism students were unanimous in their opposition. The Evesham juniors and seniors said the decal identified them as young and made them feel vulnerable.

A couple said they would defy the law, explaining, "It's my form of silent protest," Polites said.

Teens have protested en masse on Facebook. A Facebook page called "Kyleigh's Law Lets Creepers Know I'm Young and Alone" has 9,000 fans.

According to Motor Vehicle Commission officials, the state had sold 31,167 pairs of decals as of Wednesday, though nearly 300,000 drivers are required to have them.

The new regulations are named after Kyleigh D'Alessio, a 16-year-old from Morris County killed in 2006. She was one of multiple passengers in a car driven by a teen with a probationary license.

Unveiled last spring, the regulations were described as being among the strictest of their kind in the nation. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among 16- to 20-year-olds, according to state officials. Teenagers represent the largest portion of drivers involved in car accidents in New Jersey. Forty-four teens in the state died in car crashes last year.

The new law also enlarges on New Jersey's ban on driving while using a handheld cell phone. Young drivers are prohibited from using even hands-free devices.

Pennsylvania has no limits on passengers or cell phone usage by beginner drivers. At a House Transportation Committee hearing this month, highway safety experts said that weak safety laws in Pennsylvania had led to hundreds of preventable traffic fatalities, many involving teens. Efforts to tighten the laws have been unsuccessful.

"This is about trying to reduce those things, trying to address those things, that cause the greatest crash risk for teens: multiple passengers, cell phones, driving late at night," said Pam Fischer, safety director for the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic.

The decal provision of Kyleigh's Law allows police to identify new drivers in order to enforce safety rules, Fischer said. The violation of any restriction carries a $100 fine. Multiple offenses do not result in license forfeiture.

Haddon Township resident Cindi Whitbeck, whose daughter is a high school junior, praised the law. There were no such restrictions when her friends were involved in a fatal crash while attending high school in the 1970s, she recalled.

The license plate decals are "good because it allows other people to have patience with [young drivers] and be careful," she said.

The rules also will inconvenience some parents. Caty Wagner, a sophomore at Haddonfield Memorial High School, said her parents had been pushing her to get a license so she could drive around her three siblings.

Kyleigh's Law bars those with probationary licenses from carrying more than one passenger without a parent or guardian present. The current rule allows young drivers to have more than one passenger without a parent if all are from the same home.

Michael Birnbaum, supervisor of driver's education at Washington Township High School, acknowledged having mixed feelings about the law, which will affect his 17-year-old twins, Anna and Molly.

A lot of parents are worried that the decals could allow their children to be targeted by police or worse, predators, he said.

"Why they installed [the law] is very admirable, but I've heard a lot of negatives. . . . I don't know what to think," he said.

Anna Birnbaum, a senior at Washington Township High, said she was not sure she'd use the decals. School administrators said they would be checking students' cars in the parking lot, she said.

"But at night, I think it's creepy," Birnbaum said. "I don't like the fact that I can be followed home because they know I'm a kid."

The following rules take effect Saturday for those under 21 with a Graduated Drivers License (GDL).

A removable red decal must be affixed to both license plates on any vehicle the driver operates.

Driving is forbidden between 11:01 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The use of interactive wireless communications devices, including hands-free, is banned.

Special (Learners) Permit and Examination Permit holders must be accompanied by a supervising adult over 21 who has held a license for at least three years.

Drivers with all GDL types also may transport parents, guardians, and dependents.

Special Permit holders may carry one additional passenger. Examination Permit and Probationary (formerly Provisional) License holders accompanied by a parent or guardian may have an unrestricted number of passengers.

SOURCE: N.J. Motor Vehicle Commission

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