The New Jersey Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a requirement that teenage drivers display a red decal on their license plates to allow law enforcement to identify them. Although lawyers for the losing side have vowed to take the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, it appears that for now New Jersey teens will be easy to spot on the road.
The requirement is among the provisions in a 2009 package of legislation known as Kyleigh’s law, named for a 16-year-old who died in a car crash involving a teen driver in 2006.
Those opposed to the decal requirement argued that it violates a person’s privacy, amounts to an unreasonable search and seizure, and allows sexual predators to readily identify teenagers. The Supreme Court did not agree with any of these arguments. The court found that age is not private, protected information in the same way that your Social Security number is. The court also found that having different standards for teen drivers is not only constitutional, but perfectly acceptable given the larger public policy concerns.
Along with requiring the red decals, the law bars teens from driving late at night, driving with more than one other teen in a vehicle, and using cell phones while driving.
Why Should Teens Have Different Rules?
A vehicle holds much potential to turn into a weapon of destruction and to kill multiple victims at once. Adult drivers tend to understand how dangerous driving can be and are more likely to respect that fact. Teenagers tend to be more immature, more defiant, and more likely to believe they are invincible, all of which translates to less respect for the potential dangers involved in driving.
According to the Center for Disease Control teenage drivers are four times more likely to crash than older drivers. Crashes involving teens are also three times more likely involve fatalities.
Teenage drivers are also more likely to ignore bans on texting or talking on cell phones while driving. A recent study found that 40 percent of the teens surveyed admitted that they have been in a vehicle with another teenager who was using a cell phone in a way that put people in danger.
Although the red decals alone may not prevent crashes, they will alert law enforcement officers to vehicles with teen drivers. The idea is that when law enforcement officers know a teen is behind the wheel, they can observe whether driving laws are being broken.
Contact an Attorney if You Have Been Injured
If you have been injured in a New Jersey car accident, and you believe that another driver, regardless of age, was at fault, you may be entitled to compensation.
Contact the New Jersey car accident attorneys at Ginarte Gonzalez & Winograd to find out about your legal options. With six offices conveniently located in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area, we have an office near you. For your free consultation, call the firm today at 888-446-2783 or fill out our online contact form.