On May 1, a new law goes into effect in New Jersey that requires provisional drivers under 21 to put a red sticker on their license plate. The law, nicknamed Kyleigh’s Law, after Kyleigh D’Alessio who died in a car accident in 2006, is purported to make it easier for the police to enforce graduated…
While intermittently glancing up at the Academy Awards show last night, noticed an immediately annoying commercial. The scene panned around a very messy bedroom, while the song “16 Going on 17” from the Sound of Music was playing. Alright, so right off the bat, we’re being told 16-year-olds are irresponsible messy idiots, and already indignant,…
Check out some news coverage here: Some call distracted-driving bill age discrimination
In a ground breaking study, author and sociologist Mike Males, demonstrates that California’s graduated driver’s license (GDL) has not, like its proponents claim, made driving safer in the state. Males’ study gives solid evidence to support the assertion made by youth rights advocates for years that greater experience produces better drivers, not age. Many studies…
All the child advocates out there, all the parents’ groups, all the public interest people… they have one supposed goal. They must protect children. They must help children. They must do all they can, even things the children might not like right now, for the children. Sure enough, there are people who may think NYRA…
Proposed Bills: S.0133, H.0026, H.530 The Vermont legislature is currently passing a bill that will ban hand held cell phones while driving (for teen drivers or for all drivers depending on whether the house’s version or the senate’s version passes). It will also make not wearing a seatbelt a primary violation, meaning the police can…
USA Today, which is among the country’s most widely circulated publications, recently quoted NYRA’s Executive Director in an article on teen driving. Specifically, the article dealt with a report put out by the National Highway Safety Administration, which presented a biased, anti-youth interpretation of driving fatality statistics aimed at convincing states to make seventeen the…
NYRA just released a fascinating new study that Mike Males put together that makes a very convincing case that a large part of the reason for high traffic deaths among teens is not simply due to their age, but because of their poverty level. This is an angle of the issue that to my knowledge…
The National Youth Rights Association (NYRA), in cooperation with Dr. Mike Males at UC Santa Cruz, has released a new study concerning teenaged drivers that disputes the notion that teens are reckless killers behind the wheel. The study shows that the largest risk factor for driving is poverty, not age. They hope that the study…
During this semester, I am taking the honors-level version of a state-mandated civics and economics class at my school. The class is quite interesting, and it involves a lot of open dicussion and thought. On Tuesday, the teacher assigned a fun project in which we were to write a mock state referendum concerning a state…
