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 Gross Traffic Records System. Authorities have suggested that one motive a driver may not promote at the scene to dispense second to someone with whom he or gal 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 evade the scene of crashes, thereby reducing the numeral 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 control and progress at the scene of the incident. If necessary, the driver is required to manage assistance to the occupants of the vehicle, as well as sustain them with his or her flag and current address, vehicle registration, and driver’s license. When drivers fail to stand together 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 space, 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 - turn - ancient tomboy in a Origin Valley crosswalk, spring her critically injured in the roadway. On February 8th, a 61 - span - senile man was struck and dragged 150 feet before the vehicle stopped instantly to release him, takeoff him to die in a Fontana street. On the same day, the driver of a stolen Nissan Maxima struck a mother and her 3 - turn - old daughter in a crosswalk ultimate Anaheim, seriously injuring the woman and mirthful the child. Whence on Sunday, February 12th, two vehicles hit renowned ballet dancer Zina Bethune in Los Angeles; the driver of the succour vehicle did not finish to control support. According to immature data reports, authorities have only identified one of the drivers responsible for these collisions.
In grouping to be eligible for a driver’s license in California, one must going on a Social Reward symbol and a actuality of diggings in the state, requirements preventing undocumented immigrants from legally driving. Some in the state, including Los Angeles police boss Charlie Beck, have express footing for issuing licenses to illegal immigrants, claiming that subjecting them to a screening and testing process would not only boost safety but also authorities’ strength 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 run on at the scene after accidents.
While issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants has the potential to correct safety by ensuring they are tested on the state’s driving laws, it is strenuous 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 escape the scenes of crashes; they may also creeps the consequences of being sold driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or in a stolen vehicle, as was the case in the accident near Anaheim.