Soapbox for September 17, 2011
From Marin Independent Journal readers
marinij.com
Posted: 09/17/2011 06:00:00 AM PDT

SAN RAFAEL

Impound tragedy predicted

San Rafael's new no-impound policy for the cars of unlicensed drivers, the IJ's top story on Sept. 14, will be paid for in blood.

Consider the following incident, reported in the San Francisco Chronicle several weeks ago: A 4-year-old boy was struck by a car and killed when crossing a street with his mother and sisters in a crosswalk in Santa Rosa. The driver, who fled the scene and was later apprehended, is being held as a suspected illegal immigrant and was allegedly driving without a license. He had been arrested twice before for driving without a license and had made a court appearance less than a week previously.

It will only be a matter of time before someone is injured or killed in a similar accident by an unlicensed driver whose car has been released by the San Rafael police in violation of state law. The injured person or the representatives of the deceased person will most likely seek to hold San Rafael responsible in court for the tragedy. Nor does the policy only apply to illegal immigrant unlicensed drivers, although they were apparently the concern of the advocate organizations named in your account. Drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked for multiple drunk driving convictions will also have its benefits.

For now, anyone who has to go to San Rafael, and it is probably best avoided, should walk and drive very carefully. You don't want to be in front of the next unlicensed driver who blows through a red light or stop sign or crosswalk. When government fails its responsibility to enforce some of the law, those who find they need not obey some of the law tend to lose respect for all of the law.

Robert Dunn, Corte Madera

Why even enforce the law?

The San Rafael police chief has caved in to pressure from illegal immigrant groups again. Instead of enforcing the law against uninsured and unlicensed drivers, he has decided to put the criminals back on the street and behind the wheel within one day instead of the state law, which requires 30 days. Why bother enforcing the law at all? Why bother paying the high cost of police "protection"?

Why did California pass a 30-day impound law? Because the Department of Motor Vehicles reports that 75 percent of the 720,000 drivers with licenses that are revoked never stop driving. Impounding the car is the only way to keep it off the road for at least one month. This is not punishment — just good common sense.

The DMV reports an estimated one million drivers have no license or insurance. More than 4,000 people a year are killed and 330,000 injured in car accidents. At least the police department can see the truth of unlicensed drivers being "overly represented in vehicle collisions." You pay for this with the high cost of insurance and noninsured coverage as well as putting your life and your children's lives at risk every time they drive. Don't stand for it. Demand the law be enforced.

I urge the police chief to end this program immediately and enforce the law as it was written by the representatives of the citizens of the great state of California.

Tim Peterson, San Anselmo

Police chief caved in

The IJ article (Sept. 14) regarding the police chief of San Rafael caving in to the activists who represent illegal immigrants is rather disturbing.

The California Vehicle code is quite clear in that it says if you are driving without a license, your car is impounded for 30 days. There isn't any room for interpretation in this matter as the law is quite clear.

By siding with illegal immigration activists, the chief is putting us all in danger to a growing problem that California is facing. Ignoring various laws that aren't politically popular by the legislature or cities is making California a lawless state. An example are laws passed by voters in proposition ballots, that are routinely ignored by the state attorney general as they refuse to carry out their legal duties to defend the law in court if it's not politically correct.

I sincerely hope the San Rafael police chief doesn't decide to contribute to this culture of corruption and will enforce the law as it was written. The public safety demands this of him and we are all safer by it.

John Armanini, San Rafael

http://www.marinij.com/opinion/ci_18913367