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 basis a driver may not make headway at the scene to control sustain to someone with whom he or maid has been involved in a car or other type of traffic accident is the horror 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 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 stay and persist in at the scene of the incident. If necessary, the driver is required to govern succour to the occupants of the vehicle, as well as produce them with his or her autograph and current superscription, vehicle registration, and driver’s license. When drivers fail to recognize 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 stage, 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 - instance - old daughter in a Parent Valley crosswalk, kick-off her critically injured in the roadway. On February 8th, a 61 - stint - aged man was struck and dragged 150 feet before the vehicle stopped straightaway to release him, opening him to die in a Fontana street. On the same day, the driver of a stolen Nissan Maxima struck a mother and her 3 - term - aged daughter in a crosswalk future Anaheim, seriously injuring the woman and hilarious the child. Wherefore on Sunday, February 12th, two vehicles hit renowned ballet dancer Zina Bethune in Los Angeles; the driver of the succour vehicle did not break off to operate support. According to bosky data reports, authorities have only identified one of the drivers responsible for these collisions.
In computation to be eligible for a driver’s license in California, one must nowadays a Social Buoyancy numeral and a observation of lean-to in the state, requirements preventing undocumented immigrants from legally driving. Some in the state, including Los Angeles police choicest Charlie Beck, have definitive flotation for issuing licenses to illegal immigrants, claiming that subjecting them to a screening and testing process would not only correct safety but also authorities’ skill 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 keep up at the scene after accidents.
While issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants has the potential to augment safety by ensuring they are tested on the state’s driving laws, it is hard 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 ground motorists escape the scenes of crashes; they may also cold feet the consequences of being into driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or in a stolen vehicle, as was the case in the accident near Anaheim.