Teeth for Driver’s License Law : Katz bill would allow seizure of cars if motorists lack valid licenses

The problem of motorists who have been banned from driving is one that feeds upon itself in chilling and costly fashion.

Point 1: Drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked (or who never obtained a license in the first place) subsequently commit most of the hit-and-run accidents in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Point 2: Los Angeles and surrounding communities lead the state in the frequency of hit-and-run incidents, and California leads the nation.

Point 3: Hit-and-run accidents account for such tragedies as last week’s death of a Pacoima mother and her daughter. For police, these cases are time-consuming and difficult to solve. In addition, hit-and-run accidents pose the threat of higher insurance rates for everyone.

State officials estimate that there are as many as 2 million unlicensed drivers on the roads today. Unfortunately, existing law authorizes the forfeiture of cars only when the driver has been convicted of vehicular manslaughter or repeat drunk driving offenses.

A bill moving through the Legislature would change that. The Safe Streets Act, by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), would authorize the permanent seizure of the vehicle of anyone caught driving with a revoked, suspended or expired license or no license at all. Drivers who could clear their records and first-time offenders who had loaned their cars to unlicensed drivers would get their cars back. All others would be sold.

The Katz legislation comes up for a vote before the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday. We support the bill, with one reservation. It should not be extended to drivers with otherwise clean records who simply may not have noticed that their license recently expired.

Under the bill, the proceeds from the sale of forfeited cars first would go toward storage costs and then would go to lien holders. Remaining sums would be divided among state and local agencies. The bill prohibits police from stopping vehicles for the sole purpose of determining whether the driver has a valid license. The legislation’s main purpose would be to up the ante for getting behind the wheel without a valid license. The measure could well save lives.