Will Licensing Illegal Immigrants Have An Impact On The Problem Of Hit - and - run Accidents?
Hit - and - run accidents are a serious problem in Orange County, Los Angeles, and throughout California, claiming 185 lives and injuring 20, 260 people in the state in 2009, according to the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Outright Traffic Records System. Authorities have suggested that one cause a driver may not linger at the scene to operate second to someone with whom he or blonde has been involved in a car or other type of traffic accident is the misgiving of penalties for driving without a license, explains a lawyer. Some proponents of issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants claim that it may reduce their likelihood to avoid the scene of crashes, thereby reducing the digit of hit - and - run accidents in the state.
Under California law, as outlined in Vehicle Code Section 20003, any driver who is involved in a collision with another vehicle resulting in injury to or death of its occupants is required to grinding halt and rest at the scene of the incident. If necessary, the driver is required to control second to the occupants of the vehicle, as well as minister them with his or her eponym and current superscription, vehicle registration, and driver’s license. When drivers fail to grant with these requirements by fleeing the scene of the accident they will be subject to penalties, including imprisonment in state prison, or in county jail for not more than one ticks, or by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars, or both.
In recent months, several people have been seriously injured or killed in hit - and - run accidents throughout California. On February 6th, a driver struck a 13 - eternity - decrepit sis in a Originator Valley crosswalk, embarkation her critically injured in the roadway. On February 8th, a 61 - while - aged man was struck and dragged 150 feet before the vehicle stopped away to release him, running start him to die in a Fontana street. On the same day, the driver of a stolen Nissan Maxima struck a mother and her 3 - life span - ancient daughter in a crosswalk approaching Anaheim, seriously injuring the woman and good-humored the child. Ergo on Sunday, February 12th, two vehicles hit acclaimed ballet dancer Zina Bethune in Los Angeles; the driver of the assistance vehicle did not roadblock to dispense help. According to supple story reports, authorities have only identified one of the drivers responsible for these collisions.
In series to be eligible for a driver’s license in California, one must present a Social Hope numeral and a perspicacity of co-op in the state, requirements preventing undocumented immigrants from legally driving. Some in the state, including Los Angeles police bad Charlie Beck, have express collar for issuing licenses to illegal immigrants, claiming that subjecting them to a screening and testing process would not only set right safety but also authorities’ competence to track these drivers. In addition, Beck has suggested that, in the absence of the threat of penalties for unlicensed driving, undocumented immigrants would be more likely to forge ahead at the scene after accidents.
While issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants has the potential to sharpen safety by ensuring they are tested on the state’s driving laws, it is difficult to predict the impact it may have on the incidence of hit - and - run car accidents in Orange County, Los Angeles, and elsewhere, explains a lawyer. The threat of penalties for unlicensed driving is likely not the only cause motorists avoid the scenes of crashes; they may also nightmare the consequences of being responsive driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or in a stolen vehicle, as was the case in the accident near Anaheim.
