The illegal immigration debate invariably comes around to the issue of driver’s licenses. Well, this is one area with which I happen to have some personal experience. Believe it or not, it is not a prerequisite to actually HAVE a driver’s license in order to have it suspended in the State of Arizona. Nor do you need an Arizona license to attend defensive driving school.
Let me explain. Having a driver’s license is not a right. It is merely a privilege. In order for the roads to work with a modicum of safety and success, we set up rules for driving, test the potential driver on them and affirm they know them by issuing the license. It is a serious hazard for people to be out there driving without knowing the rules. It is all about public health and safety. It is not about civil rights.
Even with a license some people are really bad drivers. They get tickets for moving violations. First we offer them a refresher course in the form of defensive driving school. But sometimes that is not effective. There are several legal reasons for suspending someone’s driver’s license. Getting a second DUI is a good sign that you do not understand the rules; causing serious injury on a first DUI is another one. But the most frequent reason is failure to pay your tickets. Yes, if you get a ticket and you don’t pay, your license is suspended. It shows you don’t know the rules and you don’t care to. Now, the mere act of driving is a crime!
The officers can spot you usually by running your plate and then your driving record. Invariably there are a myriad other things wrong if you are a person who is out there driving on a suspended license, the most obvious is lack of insurance and the second is expired registration.
So how does this work then with people who can’t get a license in the first place-the illegal immigrant? Having no driver’s license is a civil offense and usually has a fine of over $100. But it is not a moving violation and therefore not eligible for defensive driving school (DDS). Most often these people are discovered when they commit a moving violation. They are found very, very frequently. That tells me something: they don’t know the rules of the road. This is confirmed when they get ticketed for no license. The best thing we can do in this case is send them to DDS. At least there they will get some exposure to the rules, having skipped all that by not getting a license. All you need for DDS is a valid, government issued ID; any government will do, including Mexico.
If, on the other hand, they fail to come to court on the ticket, it goes into default and their privilege to drive is suspended. On the next infraction they get a criminal ticket-no DDS is available. So they run around and pay all these fines, get their privilege reinstated and go right back out on the road. There is just no way to stop them.
The net result is that illegal immigrants are constantly getting misdemeanor tickets for driving on a suspended license which carries a hefty fine-first offense with surcharges and all the other little fees added in is nearly $600. But they pay; maybe over time, but for the most part they pay. Courts often incentivize this payment by giving them a discount if they get their privilege to drive reinstated. Those receiving civil fines, if otherwise eligible, get their ticket dismissed for attending the school but that is more rare.
On its face this practice makes little sense. We raise tons of money through the system but ignore the entire basis for licensing people in the first place-safety on the road. How does this help the legitimate drivers on the road? I submit not only does it not help; it is putting us all needlessly in harm’s way.
They are here and there is no way to stop them from driving. As noted, this is merely a privilege extended by our state, not a right. I on the other hand have the right to expect that everyone on the road has received at least some training, thus providing the safest driving experience the State can offer. The current practice is depriving me, a legitimate citizen, of the right to a safe driving experience. By depriving the illegal immigrant of this privilege I am being deprived of a right.
It may cost the municipal coffers but in the long run society will be much better off with a trained driving force. I’ll bet the same people who complain about illegal immigration also lament the demise of common sense in our society. Here is a chance to use some common sense and save lives at the same time. How can that be wrong?
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