By LARRY HIGGS Asbury Park Press A state attorney general's report about the controversial red decals that probationary drivers must display on license plates found that only one 17-year-old in the state reported to police that she was targeted because of the sticker. One Monmouth County legislator who signed onto one of several bills that seeks to repeal the...
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A red decal attached to a license plate at a 2010 press conference announcing the specifics of Kyleigh's Law.By LARRY HIGGS
Asbury Park Press
A state attorney general's report about the controversial red decals that probationary drivers must display on license plates found that only one 17-year-old in the state reported to police that she was targeted because of the sticker.
One Monmouth County legislator who signed onto one of several bills that seeks to repeal the decal provision of Kyleigh's law said he still supports removing the requirement because of noncompliance by young drivers and no support for it from parents or police.
"I'm still convinced it's a bad idea and that is from someone who thought it was a good idea and supported it," said state Sen. Sean Kean, R-Monmouth. "It's a situation where I have to weigh the pros and cons and the negatives outweigh the pros. The cons are from parents who are concerned about it."
But Pam Fischer, former director of the state Highway Traffic Safety Division, said the report vindicates the idea of identifying teen drivers to police so they can enforce provisions of the graduated driver's license law. "It (the report) really helps to say that this issue of thinking our children would be attacked isn't happening," said Fischer, whose 16-year-old son is about to get his GDL.
The report was ordered after a controversy erupted over the requirement in what is known as Kyleigh's Law that probationary drivers under 21 display the small square red decal in the corner of the license plate of any vehicle they drive.
The idea was to help police easily identify a driver with a graduated driver's license, which carries curfews and restricts how many other teenagers can be in the vehicle as passengers.
The decal was recommended by the state Teen Driving Commission, which authored various parts of the GDL program. The program is considered a model within the safety community and been adopted by other states.
In February, the law survived a court challenge in Morris County brought by two parents.
An appeals court upheld the law, which took effect in May 2010 and was named for Kyleigh D'Alessio, 16, of Long Valley, who was killed in a 2006 crash as a passenger in a car driven by a teenager.
The parents in the suit alleged the decals were a bull's-eye for predators, invaded privacy by disclosing the age group of the drivers and violated protections against unreasonable search and seizures that are contained in the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment.
The Attorney General study was ordered by Gov. Chris Christie in October 2010 to study whether young drivers displaying the decal had been targeted by predators.
The April 6 report found only one incident was reported to police in January 2011, in which a 17-year-old female whose vehicle had a red decal displayed was stopped by a man in a dark car with flashing lights, impersonating a police officer.