Graduated Driver Licensing Decal Law Effect on Young Probationary Drivers

Decal laws have been implemented internationally to facilitate police enforcement of graduated driver licensing (GDL) restrictions (e.g., passenger limit, nighttime curfew) but have not been evaluated.  New Jersey implemented the first decal law in the United States on May 1, 2010. This study investigates the impact of that decal law on citation rates, crash rates and prevented crashes.

In the first year post-law, the study finds that there was a 14 percent increase in the GDL citation rate, a 9 percent reduction in the police-reported crash rate, and an estimated 1,624 young probationary drivers for whom a crash was prevented.