I was interviewed by Jodi Latina from WTNH 8 (the local ABC affiliate) this morning while picking up my morning bagel. I was completely not expecting this, and on top of that, I had never thought about this issue. So, of course, I said something not so clever.

Basically, the town council passed a voluntary sticker program that would allow parents to apply a sticker to the cars used by their new teenage drivers. This would help cops and other drivers identify a young driver. Parents apparently asked for this program, though I can’t really imagine why (more on that in a sec) and the West Hartford Police like it because it makes it easier for them to enforce a new CT state law that bans new drivers from having passengers in the car aside from parents/guardians or experienced drivers. The law also imposed new time restrictions on young drivers with some exceptions for work, religious activities, etc.

I was just trying to express my initial reaction which was, why the heck would parents do something like this? I hate to sound like an old man, but when I was a kid, my parents taught me to respect the law, not live in fear of it. It was enough that they asked me to be home by midnight. Even if I were concerned my kid might not listen to me, why in the world would I want the police involved? Down that road lies higher insurance premiums, fines, etc.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I can’t think of what the parents who asked for this new program were thinking.

Regardless, the program is voluntary. We’ll see how many stickers they give out and how many stickers I see around town. I’m willing to bet the program will not be that popular, especially after a report hits the news about a kid getting caught because of it.