Ankit Patel

So I was bored one afternoon and wrote a letter to the Assemblywomen and Senator from my district.

For those unfamiliar with Kyleigh’s Law, it went into effect May 1, 2010 and requires that all drivers with a provisional license under the age of 21 mark their vehicles with a red decal to make them easily identifiable on the road.

Naturally, I have concerns about anything that marks anyone as under the age of 21. Considering how most of the drivers with a provisional license are under the age of 18, this raises even more concern. Sure it may make it easier for a law enforcement officer to identify a 17 year old driver, but it will also make it easier for someone looking for jailbait to spot a mark.

Apparently the state legislature has many members that have realized how useless this law is and are working to stop the program.

Here is my letter to the Senator and Assemblywomen:

SUBJECT: Kyleigh’s Law

The idea is to provide all provisional drivers with a decal that will identify that as a person under the age of 21 with a provisional license.The claim is that it will make driving safer for teen drivers. Unfortunately, it will do no such thing. The primary cause of driving accidents and deaths are irresponsible drivers. Sticking a shiny red tag on a license plate will not make drivers more responsible. What shiny red tags will do, however, is establish a method by which one may identify a driver under the age of 21 rather quickly. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, law enforcement personnel, state officials, parents, other motorists, pedophiles, serial killers, criminals, religious authorities, school teachers, etc.

Now there is certainly some merit to force someone under the age of 21 to carry a stamp to announce it to the world. There is no need for a law enforcement officer to pull over a person driving in a responsible fashion with two or more passengers. However, if that driver happens to have a shiny red tag on his or her license plate, then there awaits a potential source of vital income that could help save the state’s budgetary issues.Additionally, it can enforce the restriction on a provisional permit that indicates that there can only be one additional passenger in the car, but to a lesser extent.

However, in speaking of the budgetary issue, mandatory decals for cost are genius! The red tags sell for $4 at the MVC and the MVC anticipates that 500,000 will be sold in the first year of the program. Well that’s a nice $2 million dollars for the state there, not including the fee to get the learner’s permit and the cost to obtain the provisional license. This is pure financial genius. Combine those with the $100 fine for those caught without the decal; there will be some significant income from this. However, why stop at drivers under the age of 21. Creating a tag system for drivers could ensure the safety of everyone. For example, a mandatory decal to indicate the driver is an elderly person would certainly make the roads safer.

I suppose something significant is the decline in teenage driving related deaths since 2006. 68 teen deaths were reported in 2007, followed by 59 in 2008, and then 42 in 2009. Curiously, the number is decreasing somehow. I suppose that a shiny red decal will lower this number even more, it’s much more likely that an irresponsible driver will be stopped before anything bad can happen and can be assisted by law enforcement personnel and pedophiles, both with almost equal probability, although slightly higher for the law enforcement personnel as there is no motivator greater than money.

Kyleigh’s law will prove to be an ineffective law when it comes to reducing teenage driving related deaths. However, the program will be considered a success because teenage deaths from driving will decrease after the program goes live on May 1. However, correlation does not imply causation as the trend of decreasing deaths can be observed from years past.

Overall, this law is a wonderful way to make the state some extra money and make life easier for those on the search for young drivers under the age of 21.

The chief of staff from Assemblywoman Connie Wagner’s office was kind enough to respond. It wasn’t quite as long as my original letter…

I’ll be sure to let the Assemblywoman know how you feel. We’ve gotten several emails from concerned parents on this issue. I can assure you the intention of the legislation is to help police officers to better enforce the current laws reagarding younger drivers. There is currently a move in the legislature to stop the decal program, I will let you know if there is any progress on it.