Young Driver Objects to the Labeling of Cars

To The Editor:
There is a new bill that will be enforced starting May 1, that is called Kyleigh’s Law. This law was brought about by the tragic death of Kyleigh Lauren D’Alessio, a 16-year-old honor student and recognized athlete from Long Valley, who died in a car accident involving a young provisional driver with multiple passengers. After being signed in April, 2009, the law will set new regulations for New Jersey Driving Permit and Provisional License Holders. Some of the new regulations are: the new curfew of 11 p.m.-5 a.m. Permit holders must have a licensed driver in the pas-senger seat from the same residence, and the most controversial of them being that the holders of Provi-sional Licenses to mark the cars they are driving in with a license plate decal.
I am a 17 year old that drives to and from school and to several other locations throughout the course of a day. I live with my parents, so we share everything including vehicles. Due to the new regulations both of our cars will have to have the markers. On one hand, I think that teens that are driving need some more regu-lations, but on the other hand, we do not need to be labeled as young adults. This is for a few reasons, the first of which is the fact that I do not want to be a target for sexual offenders and insurance claims. If someone is looking to sexually abuse someone else, all they have to do is look for the decals on the car. If there is someone who wants to use a new driver as a chance to claim insurance money, they just have to look at the car. The second reason is, now that our cars are labeled, does that put my parents in danger? Let’s say that my parents and some of their friends want to go somewhere, after 11 p.m., now they are subject to being pulled over or being targets. So if I did not want to hang the tag or put on the decal, my par-ents and I could also be fined for $500.
On May 1, all provisional license holders are re-quired to go to the DMV and purchase a sticker/hang tag for $4. Assemblyman Nelson Albano supports this bill and he should hear any complaints about this set of regulations. If the police would actually look around and stop cars that look overcrowded or that could en-danger other drivers, they should do their jobs and take them off the roads and provide information about the dangers of driving. Flagging teenagers is not the step we need to take to fix this problem; stricter and more enforced penalties are the way to go. For more information about Kyleigh’s Law visit www.kyleighslaw.org or www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A2500/2089_I1.PDF.
RUSSELL TRAFFORD
North Cape May