Illegals drive up highway deaths

When Giuliani became mayor of NYC he set out to get a handle on the serious crime situation that had made the city a dangerous and undesirable place to be. "Among the Giuliani strategies is the stepped-up ticketing of people caught drinking and urinating in public, scrawling graffiti, jumping subway turnstiles and riding bicycles on sidewalks." He rightly understood that lack of enforcement of the small crimes bred contempt for the whole law. Under his leadership, overall crime is down 57%, murder has been reduced 65%," So how does this relate to illegal immigration?

When the government turns a blind eye to the entering of the country illegally, those who do so hold the law in general contempt. They are not held to account for their original crime so why should they expect to be held responsible for other crimes? This attitude can be seen clearly in the statistics on traffic accidents. Illegal immigrants by virtue of their status do not have driver's licenses or auto insurance. They are responsible for a huge increase in traffic fatalities and hit and run incidents.

While no one– in or out of government – tracks traffic accidents caused by illegal aliens, the statistical and anecdotal evidence suggests many of last year's 42,636 road deaths involved illegal aliens.

A report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Study found 20 percent of fatal accidents involve at least one driver who lacks a valid license. In California, another study showed that those who have never held a valid license are about five times more likely to be involved in a fatal road accident than licensed drivers.

Statistically, that makes them an even greater danger on the road than drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked – and nearly as dangerous as drunk drivers.

The solution to the problem is not licensing illegals, but enforcing the immigration laws. The licensing of illegal immigrants to drive will not instill a respect for the law. On the contrary, it will reinforce the contempt that brought them across the border illegally in the first place. Yet the politicians seem obvious to something so simple, or they cynically wish to exploit the issue for their own benefit. I would not give them the benefit of the doubt. How could one justify nonsense such as this otherwise?

In California, for instance, the Legislature is considering several proposals that would help illegal immigrants drive. One of them is a bill that would prevent police from seizing vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers. Senate Bill 626 by Sen. Nell Soto, D-Ontario, would apply to all drivers who have never obtained a California license. Opponents point out those favoring the bill are the same people promoting licenses for illegals.

'Under current state law, police can seize vehicles for up to 30 days if the driver is unlicensed. Under the new bill, if the driver never had a license, the vehicle could be seized for only 24 hours; those who had licenses suspended or revoked would still have the vehicles impounded for up to 30 days.

If we will not demand respect for our laws when a person enters our country, how then can we expect them to do so while they are here? If we do not require new arrivals to this country to respect our laws, how long can we expect citizens to continue to do so?

immigration, politics