Thread: 2 Goldsboro NC 13 year olds plowed down on way to school

http://www.wral.com/news/5395009/detail.html

Here's a followup on this story:

Driving Without Valid License A Common Problem, Troopers Say

UPDATED: 10:27 pm EST November 23, 2005

GOLDSBORO, N.C. -- A Wayne County man who authorities said hit two middle school students has a history of driving without a license, leaving investigators trying to determine whether he ever had a valid driver's license.

Police said Carson Thomas and Mackinzie Wessels, both 13, were hit last Friday as they walked across a road next to Greenwood Middle School before classes. Investigators said the two were crossing with the "walk" signal from the crosswalk sign when Luis Delgado Jesus allegedly ran a red light and hit them.

Jesus, 23, was charged with careless and reckless driving, failing to stop at a red light and driving with expired tags. Police also charged him with driving with a revoked license.

Court records show Jesus was convicted of driving without a license in 2003. He paid a find and received six months probation.

Then, in September, records show Jesus got another ticket for driving without a license. He was supposed to be in court three days before the accident, but investigators said he never appeared.

State troopers say motorists driving without a license is a serious and common problem.

"It's a daily occurrence," said 1st Sgt. T.C. McLeod with the Highway Patrol. "It's nothing to stop 10 or 15 (motorists without licenses) a day, sometimes."

McLeod said just this year, in Wayne County, troopers charged nearly 900 people with driving without a license and about 540 drivers for driving with a revoked license.

Wayne County's district attorney says that because Jesus has only been convicted once, he faces a maximum sentence of less than three months in jail for last week's accident.

A hospital spokesman said Wessels was released from Pitt Memorial Hospital Tuesday; Thomas is still there, listed in critical condition.

Investigators and the district attorney are still trying to determine if Jesus will face more charges.

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His failure to show up in court for the Sept charge actually worked to his advantage since this would have been his second conviction.

I've emailed the Police Dept in Goldsboro about his legal status here but haven't heard back yet.

I haven't heard back from my reporter yet either, had_enuf. We will keep on the case!

I couldn't tell you if it's all of TX or just this area but we have a lot of problems here with people who have no car insurance. It costs us about twice as much for insurance out here as it does in NC and it is supposedly because of the number of uninsured motorists.

People have to prove insurance to get a registration out here, naturally, but they buy insurance for a month and then just let it lapse until it comes time to renew their plates and hope they don't get stopped or get into an accident in the meantime.

In addition, there are many people here who come across the border (legally) for whatever reason and sometimes you would wonder if they actually have a drivers license. I think it is because they get on the Interstate without knowing where they are going, get confused, and cause a lot of accidents. Their cars don't have to meet any safety standards, either, which means it isn't unusual to see a car going 20 MPH because it CAN'T do the speed limit.

Another major problem here is with the trucks out of Mexico that are not only not safe to be on the road, their drivers' skills are as questionable as the tourists sometimes. That was another disservice done to Americans by our legislators who agreed to NAFTA. I imagine CAFTA will bring us lost drivers from Uraguay to wreak havoc on the highways one day.

In NC, if your insurance lapses, the insurance company is required to let the state of NC know and then they demand your license plates. I know this because we have a car registered in NC that I use when I go there rather than rent a car. I have to keep it insured regardless of whether anyone is driving it or not for that reason. One year, our insurance went sky high for no apparent reason and I wrote the insurance company and told them to just forget it, I'd buy new insurance from a company with better rates when I got there. Next thing I know, I had a notice from the State demanding my plates.

Even though it was a hassle for me, personally, I like NC's system better. At least they make an attempt to maintain some control. Now if they would only start confiscating cars from repeated offenders like the the dude in this article, maybe there would be fewer people like him on the roads.

I do know that a LOT of them in NC don't have insurance. If I'm not mistaken, the one that killed the student in Charlotte didn't have insurance. That was the argument the other side was making about letting them have drivers' licenses so they COULD insure the cars. It's just a debatable point really. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

I know that is the argument for licenses. But I think that if they are allowed to drive (which doesn't make any sense if they aren't even allowed to live in this country legally!) that any un-naturalized immigrant should have to have a special license that sets him or her apart. And the information on that license should come from some source other than a doctored up matricula card the Mexican gov't passed out to someone at the embassy based on their word.

For example. I had an Egyptian drivers license. In order to get that, I had to prove my citizenship, prove that I was licensed to drive in my country, and take a test proving that I understood what the signs meant just like we should have to do here. BUT--my drivers license had the same expiration date as the expiration date on my visa. I don't know why it would be so hard for this country to do that. It might even make it easier to find people with expired visas in the long run.

Yes, states rights comes into play with such an edict. But the federal government could do just like they did with the unconstiturional laws that force people to wear a seatbelt. Each state either passes the law that restricts the driving privileges of non-American citizens or they don't get federal funding.

Not that there is going to be any federal funding to get if they keep squandering it all but it would be a step in the right direction.

Oh, and while we are on the subject of licenses. I think that there should be more traffic stops to check licenses and registrations than there are now. And I think the police in cases where people are driving without the proper documents ought to be REQUIRED to inquire as to immigration status. I don't care if it's a six foot tall blonde with a Swedish accent, a Mexican lady with five kids in the car, or a five foot tall black guy from Sudan. Those without visas or proper papers giving them the right to be here should be detained right then and there, even if they have to erect tents to stick them in until they get done with the traffic check and make them park their vehicles on the side of the road until a tow truck can haul them away.

We can't prevent the crimes such as this that happen if we don't try, that is for sure.

That would be a good idea, JJ. Licenses showing that they had passed a driving test and were SAFE BUT different from ours AND NOT ACCEPTABLE AS ID FOR FLYING, etc. THAT was the argument against them because there were so many counterfeit ones that were used for the hijackers. I guess that was why I was FOR the REAL ID although a lot of ALIPAC'ers are not. I just feel like we DO need a non-counterfeitable form of ID and, personally, I wouldn't mind a biometric one. But, I do understand the privacy issues that others have about that.

One time, when I was going to Europe, I actually went and got an International Drivers' License. As it turned out, it was COMPLETELY unnecessary but it looked COOL!

I know what you mean Bootsie. It's sort of a toss up in terms of privacy but I don't see it as a violation of anyone's rights if EVERYONE is asked even though only some are found in violation.

I wouldn't mind having a non-counterfietable form of ID either. But I'd rather we close up the borders so illegals couldn't just walk across and keep track of the people we let in legally. If we had only done that, we wouldn't have to be so concerned about it today.

That's the way I feel. I feel like, if you don't have anything to hide, you shouldn't mind if they take an eye print or something that can't be counterfeited. And, I keep hoping I'll get to do that the next time I fly so I will be expedited through the line! I THINK I've heard they've started doing that in Charlotte since the last time I flew.

And, closing the border now is almost a moot point. How in the name of God are they going to find all of those that they've let come across unchallenged????

We KNOW where they can find a few, don't we??!!!

I heard yesterday they're not sure whether this "questionable" person in Goldsboro ever had a license to begin with & he didn't own the vehicle that ran over these children.

If that's so, they ought to charge the owner who let this guy behind the wheel. Confiscating and selling the vehicle to help with these kids' medical bills would be a plus.