Move seeks to rescind decal rule for new drivers

A law requiring new drivers under 21 to display decals on their license plates won unanimous approval from the New Jersey Assembly in 2009. But as the controversial rule takes effect today, 10 members of the lower house - including six who voted yes - are working to rescind it.

Deputy Majority Leader Joan Voss (D., Bergen) is joining nine Republicans from across the state as a sponsor to an amendment that would eliminate the decal requirement. Assemblyman Robert Schroeder (R., Bergen), who took office after the law passed, initiated the efforts and said the amendment would be filed when the Assembly is in session Thursday.

Some of the bills that come up "look like a good thing," said Voss, who voted for the measure last year. But when people started calling her offices and saying it was unfair, "then you begin to think there were ramifications that you hadn't thought of when you had voted for it."

"It's really profiling," Voss said. "Some of the comment I've gotten is that kids will become easy targets for predators because they'll have this little thing on their license, and another thing that came up is . . . under this, [new drivers] could have served a couple years in Afghanistan and Iraq and then have to ride around with a little tag on their license."

The rules are part of Kyleigh's Law, named for Kyleigh D'Alessio, a 16-year-old from Morris County who died in 2006 as a passenger in a car driven by a new teenage driver. Advocates say the tougher rules will prevent more teenage traffic fatalities while letting police easily identify young drivers to enforce restrictions already on the books.

The proposed amendment would keep in place other aspects of the law, which include rolling back the curfew from midnight to 11 p.m. for probationary and permit drivers under 21, and forbidding them to use hands-free communications devices.

Schroeder said in an interview yesterday that he wanted to honor D'Alessio's memory by sponsoring a bill designating the third week of December - the week of her death - "Teen Driver Safety Awareness Week."

Why now?

Schroeder said he only became aware of the impact of Kyleigh's Law over the last five or six weeks, after hearing constituents' concerns. He sent an e-mail to every member of the Assembly on Thursday seeking sponsors.

"The decals were well-intentioned, but I believe it's going to put our children at risk. . . . Unfortunately, you're going to make it easy for criminals to spot a driver under the age of 21," he said.

The two sponsors from South Jersey are newly elected Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco (R., Gloucester) and Deputy Republican Leader Vince Polistina (R., Atlantic), who had voted in support of the law.

"There was no opposition that we heard last year . . . but after it comes out and some of the parents have heard about it, there has been tremendous concern raised to me from parents in our region down here about the potential for people to know that their children are in the car and preying on them," Polistina said.

He said some parents had told him they would not let their children display the decals.