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Trenton
– Bergen County law enforcement officers
issued 317 summonses to teen drivers for
graduated driver license (GDL) violations
as part of a pilot program designed to reinforce
safe driving behaviors for young drivers,
Division of Highway Traffic Safety Director
Pam Fischer announced today.
Conducted
by 70 police agencies in Bergen County from
April 7-25, the program featured roving
patrols and GDL enforcement checkpoints
at schools and other locations frequented
by teen drivers. A total of 4,933 young
drivers went through the program’s
checkpoints, where they received handouts
outlining the GDL restrictions, as well
as tips for behind-the-wheel safety.
According
to Director Fischer, the teen drivers received
summonses for several key violations within
the GDL law, including improper use of hand-held
electronic devices such as cell phones,
restrictions on the number of allowable
passengers, and lack of seat belt use by
both teen drivers and their passengers.
“Driver
distraction and lack of seat belt use are
two significant contributing factors to
teen crashes, which are the leading cause
of death for motorists 15 to 34 years of
age,” Fischer said. “Sadly,
in 2007 in New Jersey, 35 young drivers
and 28 passengers of young drivers, all
between the ages of 16 and 20, lost their
lives as a result of traffic crashes. Clearly,
programs such as this one that talk directly
to teens about the tragic consequences of
unsafe driving are critical to our efforts
to keep teens safe behind the wheel.”
In
addition to the materials distributed at
the checkpoints, posters and other written
materials were developed for the public
awareness component of the campaign, entitled
“Don’t Drive Stupid.”
The effort was adapted from materials developed
and tested with teens in Utah. All high
schools in Bergen County received information
about the campaign and were encouraged to
display the posters and other promotional
items in and around their campuses. Talking
points were also distributed to schools
for use as public service announcements
in school-based media, during assemblies,
at sporting and other school events, and
in conjunction with daily morning announcements.
Fischer,
who served as chairwoman of the New Jersey
Teen Driver Study Commission, noted that
the pilot program also tied directly into
a recommendation made by the Commission
to establish teen driving checkpoints. The
pilot program was the first recommendation
to be implemented since the report was delivered
to Governor Jon S. Corzine and the Legislature
on March 27.
As
part of the effort, the Division provided
grants of $2,000 each to 37 police agencies
in the county to run the checkpoints. The
remaining police agencies in the county
conducted the program using their own resources.
Further
information on the “Don’t Drive
Stupid” program, as well as other
teen driver safety topics, is available
on the Division’s web site, at www.njsaferoads.com.
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