Parents, Teens Object to Kyleigh's Law

Kyleigh's Law, the new driving law that requires New Jersey provisional licensed drivers under the age of 21 to place a sticker on their license plate, is effective as of this weekend. The law has been a topic of controversy with many teens and their parents, due to the fact that anyone on the road, including police officers and other drivers, will be able to identify inexperienced, restricted drivers.

The law brings in a few new changes to the restrictions of the provisional license. First of all, the provisional license, which is given to drivers after they have turned 17 and have spent at least six months with their permit, will now be called a probationary license. Provisional licensed drivers had a curfew of 12 a.m., while probationary licensed drivers will now have a curfew of 11 p.m.

With a probationary license, a teenager can carry only one other person in the car, unless there is a parent present, according to nj.com. This aspect is different from the previous restriction, which limited the number of people in the vehicle to one non-family member.

Also, under the previous law, teens were required to have their learner's permit for six months prior to being eligible to receive their provisional license. According to Bill A4021 (Kyleigh's Law) teens must have their learner's permit for one full year before being eligible to receive their probational license,

However, Kyleigh's Law, which is named after 16 year old Kyleigh Lauren D'Alessio from Long Valley, NJ who was killed in a car accident involving a provisional licensed driver, has been receiving much of its publicity because of the bright red license plate decals that it mandates all probationary license drivers place on their vehicles.

Sheri Finver, a Westfield mother of two boys, the oldest a freshman in high school said, "We already have the [restricted license laws], it's just enforcing it in a visible, tangible way." Finver did add, however, that if she had a teenage girl who could be identified as such, she would be more concerned.

Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-Summit), has announced plans to introduce legislation to change the decal aspect of the law. The mother of a teen driver, Munoz said she has similar concerns regarding the safety issue.

Westfield High School junior Hannah Purdy, who went to the Springfield office of the state Motor Vehicles Commission last week to purchase the $4 stickers for her car, worries "that the police will be looking more closely at teens, not only for things such as passenger violations, but also for more common traffic violations that they wouldn't have otherwise paid so much attention to."

Concerns have been expressed that the MVC has been running low on the stickers and should the enforcement date be pushed back until more stickers can be issued.

If a probationary driver is found without the decal on their car, he/she will be awarded a $100 fine. Stickers can be purchased at DMVs across the state; however, since probationary licensed drivers cannot drive without the stickers, they must get driven to the DMV.