INGA BARKS: Car impound restrictions would endanger us all
BY INGA BARKS Contributing columnist | Friday, Jun 01 2012 08:39 PM
bakersfield.com

Last Updated Friday, Jun 01 2012 08:41 PM

My brother was in a car accident at Real Road and California Avenue back in the late '80s. He was coming off the freeway and heading straight down Real and the car that hit him was turning left onto California, ignoring right-of-way laws and barreling right into my brother.

I was living in the Oleander area at the time and was on my way home down California when I happened upon my brother, lying in the street being treated by paramedics. He was OK, barring a concussion and some bumps.

The driver in the other car was fine as well. He was also undocumented, uninsured and unlicensed. And if the California Legislature is successful in a new campaign to protect illegal immigrants without licenses, my brother's story might be more common.

With this week's introduction of AB 1993 by state Assemblywoman FIona Ma, law enforcement in California would be unable to impound vehicles from unlicensed drivers, as is currently the practice. They would instead give the unlicensed driver the opportunity to call a friend or family member who is licensed to come and drive the car home.

I'd like to say that on its face this law at least seems compassionate. Supporters say that impounding a car leaves the driver unable to get to work, and the fees are oftentimes too expensive for the working poor to afford. Of course, the law does nothing to address the fact that unlicensed drivers are unlicensed, meaning they haven't proven that they know a stop sign from a loading zone.

In saying that an impounded car makes it harder for the driver to get to work, lawmakers basically admit that they fully expect the driver to drive illegally again! And while Sacramento has complete sympathy for the poor bloke who can't afford the impound fee or needs to get to work, they've unsympathetically increased fines for talking or texting while driving, parking in handicapped spots, among other infractions.

But there's one more thing about this law that is worth mentioning because the lawmakers freely admit it: This law to protect unlicensed drivers is specifically for the benefit of undocumented immigrants. Why? Because they can't get a driver's license. Why? Because they aren't U.S. citizens. Why? Because they broke the law to get here. Why? Profit, the American dream, a better life for their kids. All the usual reasons, no doubt.

Now, I guess we could make this an argument for just giving a driver's license to undocumented immigrants. That way they'd at least have to prove they're proficient drivers. Or, we could put the impound fees on some kind of sliding scale based on income. Or we could enforce our laws and say that you should be a citizen to be licensed and you should be licensed to drive!

According to AAA, 5 percent of drivers in California are unlicensed, but they make up 18 percent of the car accidents. So what the legislature is saying by supporting this law is that it's OK with 18 out of every 100 car accidents involving a driver who may have recently avoided impound.

Our lawmakers show a complete disregard for public safety or federal immigration law. AND Assemblymember Ma and her cohorts are blatant about it! This law IS about ensuring that illegal immigrants are not punished for breaking the law because they have to get to a job they aren't legally supposed to have in the first place!

Sure, maybe YOU were blocking traffic and your car was impounded. Or maybe you were driving on a suspended license. Maybe you had outstanding tickets or you just never got around to renewing your license with the DMV. What if you also have a sob story about needing to get to work the next day? What if you can't afford the fines?

For the record, a few cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco already have impound laws that allow undocumented immigrants to avoid losing their cars. These policies are new so there's no measure of their success or failure, but logic dictates that if we turn a blind eye to unqualified drivers out of political pandering, the above statistic about 18 percent of car accidents involving the unlicensed will inevitably go up.

One Old Vet

INGA BARKS: Car impound restrictions would endanger us all - Bakersfield.com