Georgia mom looking to mandate 'newly licensed' magnets for teen drivers
A mom in Georgia is on a crusade to convince state lawmakers to require special "Caution - Newly Licensed" magnets and stickers on the backs of all vehicles operated by young drivers. Concerned after moving from Ohio to the Peach State and seeing how "crazy" the local drivers were, Susie Kessler founded the "Caution and Courtesy Driver Alliance" to help keep her young son safe when he reached driving age. According to an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kessler says the magnet concept was designed to be "something positive" and not embarrassing (in her mind, the simple sticker avoids humiliation to new drivers). And, if you think (correctly) that the kid will simply drive around the corner and pull of the magnet, parents may affix a permanent sticker to the rear window just to drive the message home.
Donnie, her hapless 16-year-old son stuck driving a newbie-emblazoned vehicle, expressed wishes that his mom had focused her energy somewhere else as he quipped to the reporter, "Why does she have to take on this? Couldn't she be feeding the homeless?"
[Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Image: Phil Skinner]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
jon 2:35PM (7/07/2009)
well what if i am a newly licensed teen with a corvette? a magnet wont stick... and i don't want to lower my resale value by adding a sticker... those things never come off..
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greyhounds 2:57PM (7/07/2009)
actually they do come off. very easily. Use some auto glym on it and it comes right off. i take the dealer stickers off my cars without a problem. And it doesnt scratch the paint.
Sean 2:55PM (7/07/2009)
exactly what I was thinking
Mr. Smith 3:54PM (7/07/2009)
@ jon,
let me know where you drive. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near...
Zanardi1782 4:37PM (7/07/2009)
Hum, put it on the window?
JayP 2:35PM (7/07/2009)
Poor kid. His car has 'rookie stripes' and he has that haircut.
Things can only get better.
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Alex 2:50PM (7/07/2009)
its only a matter of time before he tells people to call him Don, not Donnie.
Rob 2:34PM (7/07/2009)
Bet anybody $5 that this chick also drives an SUV, yaps on her cellphone while driving, and doesn't use turn signals.
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Jay 2:37PM (7/07/2009)
She's from Ohio, of course she doesn't use turn signals. Nobody there does.
UCJR 2:58PM (7/07/2009)
@ Jay:
Head up to Michigan and the turn signal non-usage gets even worse. Apparently everybody up here finds it appropriate to squeeze into the one-car-length distance between you and the vehicle in front of you.
And they do it from two lanes away.
ronEbear 2:54PM (7/07/2009)
She might be a d-bag but I bet you that she just won the "I love my child more than you do" which is handed out annually bu the Suburban Housewives Who Have Nothing Better To Do With Their Time Association or the SHWNBTDWTTA for short.
JF 3:09PM (7/07/2009)
+99 cookies Rob
David 3:18PM (7/07/2009)
UCJR - that doesn't seem like a huge issue. At 5 mph you can deal with it pretty safely.
* this assumes you are not driving 1/5th of a second off the bumper of the guy in front of you at highway speeds. In that case it's disingenuous to criticize someone else for squeezing into that space without using a signal.
Motor_Yakuza 4:01PM (7/07/2009)
The idea ain't to bad, considering all those 16 year old, new drivers that think a part of Michel Schumaher got into them just because they watched him racing a few times. In fact a sticker won't stop you if u want to drive like a maniac, the sticker will just warn other drivers to get outf of your way.
geo.stewart 4:07PM (7/07/2009)
probably,
but if I KNOW its a 16yr old that is being tentative about making the left turn or getting on the interstate, I'll be a little more lenient than some dipwad chatting on the phone, lighting a cigarette, and applying mascara.
NOT that the two are exclusive!
Otherwise, I dont care if they are 16 or 46, if they are driving crazy I'm giving them a wide berth. As George Carlin says, "I'm going to slow down so I can keep an eye on that m************
johnmichael.jfc 4:58PM (7/07/2009)
@ Jay and UCJR: You guys are lucky, I live in NY. Some people here probably don't even know what a turn signal is. And then they wonder why the statistics say we have some of the worst drivers in the country. Hmmm, I wonder.
some1 5:04PM (7/07/2009)
funny, the massive majority of crappy drivers i see in DC happen to be soccer mom mobiles... maybe they should safeguard their kids against their own driving, before they attack their kids driving skills.
ronEbear 2:34PM (7/07/2009)
If anything these bumper magnets will act as protection for us from them. Newly licensed drivers suck at driving. It`s the same reason why insurance is higher for those unfortunate to be young enough to be considered a new driver.
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Jason 2:38PM (7/07/2009)
Hey! I signal more than most people do AND keep right except to pass, thank you very much.
But then again, readers on Autoblog are minorities in society...
Nevertheless, this woman is a d-bag.
Tdogg 3:45PM (7/07/2009)
Sure YOU might say it helps, but it will just give teen drivers a bad notoriety. Its starts today as us having a permanent sticker but tomorrow it'll lead to anyone below 25 or so being banned from driving.
There are many more important things we should be doing instead of discriminating teen drivers. While they're spending on this, they're not taking more time or money to find a cure for AIDS and cancer, swine flu vaccinations, homelessness, health care system, hydrogen fuel, ect, even fixing Michigan's crappy roads are more important than this. And that list can go one.