TRENTON, N.J., November 20 – A special commission on teenage car accidents reported it might call for placing decals on the cars being driven by teenagers with provisional drivers licenses as well as recommending mandatory driver education programs to get a license.

The governors Teen Driver Study Commission chairwoman, Pam Fisher, said at the first of three hearings that the state was not going to raise the age to get a permit from 17 to 18, as some have recommended, to end the high number of traffic deaths involving teenage drivers and teenage passengers.

The commission was formed by Governor Jon Corzine in the aftermath of traffic accidents this year that led to the deaths of seven teenagers in a six-month period.

Further, there were 400 New Jersey teenagers fatally injured in motor vehicle accidents from 2001 and 2006.

The call for changes in the teenage driving laws accelerated in the aftermath of a crash near Freehold that killed four people, including three teenagers in a car driven by a teenager with a provisional license.

Two more crashes occurred in Ocean County just months apart that killed three teens.

One possible solution is a system to identify those with provisional licenses and the possibility of having decals or placards identify cars that are driven by provisional licensees.

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth) told the commission she has introduced legislation (A.4195) requiring that provisional drivers place a decal on the car window they are driving. Her bill also calls for a one-year loss of license for teens violating terms of their restricted licenses.

The study commissions chairwoman, Fischer, who is also director of the states Highway Traffic Safety Division, said the main causes of teenage car accidents were inexperience, speeding, failing to wear seat belts, and use of cell phone calls while driving.

New Jersey joined dozens of other states in adopting a graduated drivers license law seven years ago. Now, at 16, one can drive if accompanied by an adult.

At 17 one can obtain a provincial license that allows driving without an adult, but it also allows only one passenger. Further the provisional license bans driving between midnight and 5 a.m.