But Officer... I AM over 21!

In an effort to make the roads "safer" (how this will be accomplished is not quite clear).  New Jersey wants all young drivers to display a red sticker on their license plate.

Should other drivers be aware that the vehicle they're tailing is piloted by someone under the age of 21? New Jersey thinks so and has become the first state to enact a law requiring drivers under 21 to affix a red sticker to both their front and rear license plates.

So you know the person in the car is a young driver... I see many drivers in this world, they've been driving a long time, and they are dangerous.  What kind of sticker do they get? Oh, that's right, they have experience so it's okay if they drive erratically.

Ha.

Now for the crucial questions. 

Does this apply only to kids who drive their own cars?  Or does this apply to the "family car"?   I know that many kids do have their own cars, but is it fair to flag a car as being driven by a new driver when the car may actually be driven by mom, dad, or older sibling 90% of the time?

Will this cause accidents as people not only peer at license plates instead of where they are going, but then try to peer at the driver to determine the age of the person?  

Here's one of the things they want to use it for:

According to the state, the stickers will help local police to enforce the state's 11 o'clock curfew for young drivers and to enforce other laws specific to restricted license drivers.

I guess this means that the adults in the family will not be able to drive after curfew without being stopped.  How fun for everyone!  The joy of working late or going to a party and being stopped continually by cops.

Or how about this, mom and dad go out with some of their friends - they drive.  Most states now don't allow new drivers to have friends in the car with them.  Does this mean that the car gets pulled over in every jurisdiction because the cops think Junior is out illegally with his buddies?

Leaving that aside, what is with these people and RED stickers?  There are any number of people in this country who are RED/GREEN color blind.  It's the highest percentage of color blindness there is.  And yet they decided that RED would be the color of choice.  As usual the pols are really with it.

But we all know what this really is don't we... We all know you'll have to PAY for the sticker.  It's basically a tax on young drivers.  These stickers will not be handed out for free.  So, moms and dads in NJ, get out your wallet yet again.  For your own protection, the government is going to take yet more of your money.  That little red sticker will make us all safer!

Yeah right. 

Posted by: Teresa in Idiocies at 10:00 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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