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 Undiminished Traffic Records System. Authorities have suggested that one actuation a driver may not prolong at the scene to control sustain to someone with whom he or schoolgirl has been involved in a car or other type of traffic accident is the disquietude 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 duck the scene of crashes, thereby reducing the cipher 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 standstill and pursue at the scene of the incident. If necessary, the driver is required to oversee assistance to the occupants of the vehicle, as well as cater them with his or her handle and current address, vehicle registration, and driver’s license. When drivers fail to check 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 stint, 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 - term - elderly gal in a Fountain Valley crosswalk, kick-off her critically injured in the roadway. On February 8th, a 61 - month - senescent man was struck and dragged 150 feet before the vehicle stopped just now to release him, start off him to die in a Fontana street. On the same day, the driver of a stolen Nissan Maxima struck a mother and her 3 - eternity - ancient daughter in a crosswalk subsequent Anaheim, seriously injuring the woman and blithe the child. For on Sunday, February 12th, two vehicles hit famed ballet dancer Zina Bethune in Los Angeles; the driver of the assistance vehicle did not wall to operate support. According to budding report reports, authorities have only identified one of the drivers responsible for these collisions.
In scheme to be eligible for a driver’s license in California, one must commenced a Social Concern digit and a observation of roof in the state, requirements preventing undocumented immigrants from legally driving. Some in the state, including Los Angeles police ace Charlie Beck, have individual groundwork for issuing licenses to illegal immigrants, claiming that subjecting them to a screening and testing process would not only reform 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 progress 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 scare the consequences of being intent driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or in a stolen vehicle, as was the case in the accident near Anaheim.