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 Unabridged Traffic Records System. Authorities have suggested that one basis a driver may not prolong at the scene to control assistance to someone with whom he or woman has been involved in a car or other type of traffic accident is the terror 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 lose the scene of crashes, thereby reducing the amount 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 closing and last at the scene of the incident. If necessary, the driver is required to administer help to the occupants of the vehicle, as well as equip them with his or her cognomen and current inscription, vehicle registration, and driver’s license. When drivers fail to admit 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 bout, 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 - generation - senile babe in a Originator Valley crosswalk, source her critically injured in the roadway. On February 8th, a 61 - interval - senile man was struck and dragged 150 feet before the vehicle stopped away 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 - infinity - mature daughter in a crosswalk budgeted Anaheim, seriously injuring the woman and jocose the child. Since on Sunday, February 12th, two vehicles hit famed ballet dancer Zina Bethune in Los Angeles; the driver of the succour vehicle did not control to operate help. According to unripe story reports, authorities have only identified one of the drivers responsible for these collisions.
In system to be eligible for a driver’s license in California, one must in duration a Social Gain numeral and a sense of crib in the state, requirements preventing undocumented immigrants from legally driving. Some in the state, including Los Angeles police ace Charlie Beck, have witting foundation for issuing licenses to illegal immigrants, claiming that subjecting them to a screening and testing process would not only rally safety but also authorities’ bent 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 stick to at the scene after accidents.
While issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants has the potential to rise 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 actuation motorists escape the scenes of crashes; they may also jitters the consequences of being curious driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or in a stolen vehicle, as was the case in the accident near Anaheim.