Helicopter Mom Wants "Newly Licensed" Magnet Stuck To Teens Cars

Susie Kessler's scared her 16-year-old is driving, so she's created a "Caution: Newly Licensed" magnet and slapped it on his car. Now she, along with 15,000 other parents, want to make them legally required.

We'll let Ms. Kessler herself explain her reasons for creating this sticker:

We lived in Ohio when my other children were learning to drive. And when we moved to Georgia, oh, the traffic. I think everyone would agree, Georgia drivers are pretty crazy. I was so worried about Donne learning how to drive with all this traffic. So I got started thinking, what can I do to keep him safe? I didn't know at the time that car accidents were the No. 1 killer of teens.

Followed by:

I was a nervous driver with the traffic, and I thought, how am I going to let this kid get on the highway? I've got to do something about this. … I've got to put something on the car that lets everybody know that he's just learning how to drive. So we worked on a design. I wanted to have something positive, so instead of saying "New Driver," or something that the child would be embarrassed about, we said "Newly Licensed."

That magnet, like the one you see above is now on her sons car, and some 15,000 other perpetually terrified parents have bought magnets for their own kids from Kessler. Her non-profit, the "Caution and Courtesy Driver Alliance" has now found a sympathetic ear in the Georgia senate who will sponsor a bill to make such magnets or decals legally required for teens, punishable by a fine should the kids remove them. Would somebody please think of the children! (...and Ms. Kessler's bank account!) [Atlanta Journal-Constitution via TheCollegeDriver]

Photo credit: Phil Skinner / Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Send an email to Ben, the author of this post, at ben@jalopnik.com.

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