It is not every day that safe teen driving makes the front page of a national newspaper, but yesterday The New York Times featured a front page story, “Youth Driver Limits Curb Even the Double Date”,
The article focused mostly on passengers restrictions and New Jersey’s controversial — but proving to be effective — requirement that teen drivers affix a red decal to their license plates to help law enforcement identify which drivers are subject to the teen driver laws. (The article also notes a recent court decision that upheld one parent’s challenge to the law as an infringement on his personal freedom and his daughter’s.) Overall (and thankfully), the article is very complimentary to Graduated Driver Laws and describes their effectiveness, while noting that some teens complain bitterly and vow to disregard them. The online comments about the article are unfortunately the predictable and now familiar compilation of misinformed chest beating about government infringement on individual freedom – comments that, in my view, ignore the fact that limits on unsafe practices by inexperienced drivers protect the safety of everyone on the road. Also featured in the article is Pam Fischer of new Jersey, who has become one of my heroes in the safe teen driving movement – an energetic, articulate force for safety, and a mother who lives the issue every day — her teenage son is about to get his learner’s permit.
Hats off to Kate Zernike of The Times for an excellent article.
