ALTHOUGH IT ISN’T FULLY FUNCTIONAL YET, ALABAMA WILL IMPLEMENT A NEW LAW THIS YEAR THAT HOLDS STUDENTS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR ON CAMPUS. ACCORDING TO THE TIMES DAILY, THE LEGISLATION LINKS A STUDENT’S BEHAVIOR AT SCHOOL TO WHEN THEY MAY QUALIFY FOR A DRIVER’S PERMIT, LICENSE OR WATERCRAFT LICENSE. TAYLOR’S LAW WAS SIGNED IN JULY 2009 BUT THE NEW STATEWIDE DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM TO BE USED TO TRACK STUDENT’S BEHAVIOR IS STILL NOT READY TO BE FULLY FUNCTIONAL. WHEN FULLY OPERATIONAL, THE SYSTEM WILL TRACK STUDENTS WHO COLLECT PENALTY POINTS FOR BAD BEHAVIOR AND EARN THEIR WAY OUT OF PENALTIES WITH GOOD BEHAVIOR BEGINNING THE SCHOOL YEAR THE STUDENT TURNS 13. EACH ACCUMULATED POINT ADDS A WEEK’S WAIT BEFORE THE STUDENT IS ALLOWED TO APPLY FOR A PERMIT OR DRIVER’S LICENSE WHEN THEY COME OF AGE UP TO A MAXIMUM OF ONE YEAR. TAYLOR’S LAW IS NAMED AFTER MUSCLE SHOALS RESIDENT DAVID TAYLOR WHO WAS KILLED IN 2002 BY A TEENAGE DRIVER THAT RAN A STOP SIGN AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED AND COLLIDED WITH TAYLOR’S VAN. STATE PUBLIC SAFETY AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS DON’T HAVE A SPECIFIC START DATE FOR THE SYSTEM TO BECOME FULLY OPERATIONAL BUT EXPECT IT TO BE UP AND RUNNING THIS SCHOOL YEAR.

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