Kyleigh's Law Cut Crashes by 9%, Study Says

After it’s first full year as a New Jersey law, the graduated driver’s license program has yielded a 9-percent drop in police-reported crash rates, according to a recent study published by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

The Graduated Driver’s License program, also known as Kyleigh’s Law, named for Long Valley teen Kyleigh D’allesio who, along with peer Tanner Birch was killed in a car crash in 2006 in Washington Township, was signed into law May 1, 2010.

Along with the 9-percent decrease in police-reported crashes among drivers under 21 years of age, the study shows there was a 14-percent increase in the citation rate from May 2010 to May 2011–the one-year time frame analyzed by a group of researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Kyleigh’s Law requires young drivers to affix decals on their license plates. The legislation also enforces the amount of passengers allowed in a vehicle at one time and imposes curfews on probationary motorists.

The study states an “estimated 1,624 young probationary drivers for whom a crash was prevented” as a result of the law.

Researchers concluded that “the law is positively affecting probationary drivers’ safety.”

To read the full report, go here.

For related Patch coverage on the topic, see:

NJ Appeals Court Upholds Kyleigh's Law

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