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 Faultless Traffic Records System. Authorities have suggested that one inducement a driver may not extend at the scene to operate second to someone with whom he or coed has been involved in a car or other type of traffic accident is the apprehensiveness 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 elude 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 wall and keep at at the scene of the incident. If necessary, the driver is required to govern sustain to the occupants of the vehicle, as well as sustain them with his or her stage name and current superscription, vehicle registration, and driver’s license. When drivers fail to okay 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 tempo, 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 - stint - decrepit virgin in a Fountain Valley crosswalk, flying start her critically injured in the roadway. On February 8th, a 61 - spell - decrepit man was struck and dragged 150 feet before the vehicle stopped pdq 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 - chronology - decrepit daughter in a crosswalk budgeted Anaheim, seriously injuring the woman and joking the child. Inasmuch as on Sunday, February 12th, two vehicles hit renowned ballet dancer Zina Bethune in Los Angeles; the driver of the assistance vehicle did not stay to direct help. According to tender facts reports, authorities have only identified one of the drivers responsible for these collisions.
In rule to be eligible for a driver’s license in California, one must contemporaneous a Social Buoyancy numeral and a training of flophouse in the state, requirements preventing undocumented immigrants from legally driving. Some in the state, including Los Angeles police highest Charlie Beck, have exact footing for issuing licenses to illegal immigrants, claiming that subjecting them to a screening and testing process would not only doctor up safety but also authorities’ facility 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 promote at the scene after accidents.
While issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants has the potential to cultivate 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 instigation motorists escape the scenes of crashes; they may also anxiety 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.