Will Licensing Illegal Immigrants Have An Impact On The Problem Of Hit - and - run Accidents?

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 Thoroughgoing Traffic Records System. Authorities have suggested that one basis a driver may not draw out at the scene to administer help to someone with whom he or missy has been involved in a car or other type of traffic accident is the fright 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 escape the scene of crashes, thereby reducing the figure 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 block and lengthen at the scene of the incident. If necessary, the driver is required to operate support to the occupants of the vehicle, as well as furnish them with his or her sign and current label, vehicle registration, and driver’s license. When drivers fail to concede 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 point, 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 - instant - senescent maiden in a Fountain Valley crosswalk, birth her critically injured in the roadway. On February 8th, a 61 - pace - old man was struck and dragged 150 feet before the vehicle stopped soon to release him, 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 - tempo - elderly daughter in a crosswalk looked toward Anaheim, seriously injuring the woman and knee-slapper the child. Thus on Sunday, February 12th, two vehicles hit renowned ballet dancer Zina Bethune in Los Angeles; the driver of the help vehicle did not closing to manage succour. According to developing report reports, authorities have only identified one of the drivers responsible for these collisions.
In assortment to be eligible for a driver’s license in California, one must extant a Social Utopia quantity and a evidence of rack in the state, requirements preventing undocumented immigrants from legally driving. Some in the state, including Los Angeles police capital Charlie Beck, have categorical column for issuing licenses to illegal immigrants, claiming that subjecting them to a screening and testing process would not only come around safety but also authorities’ qualification 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 outlive at the scene after accidents.
While issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants has the potential to better 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 evade the scenes of crashes; they may also apprehensiveness the consequences of being prejudiced driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or in a stolen vehicle, as was the case in the accident near Anaheim.