Have you ever been in an accident with an uninsured or unlicensed driver? If not, you are fortunate. If you have, then you know the costs involved. Maybe your insurance company covered it, maybe you paid the damages out of your own pocket, maybe your insurance rates increased as a result, maybe your insurance company ended up dropping your coverage. If there were personal injuries involved, it may have been financially devastating for you.
In most states, undocumented immigrants cannot get a state driver’s license, cannot register a motor vehicle, and, as a result, cannot get auto insurance. And yet, we all know that the person who cuts our grass, or delivers our pizza, or builds our stone wall, may be undocumented.
Regardless of your position on immigration; the reality is that we are all driving on the same streets together. And, accidents continue to happen every day.
The House of Representatives of the State of Connecticut just voted on May 23, 2013 by a vote of 74 to 55 to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for Connecticut driver’s licenses. The Bill now heads to the Senate this week, and seems sure to pass the General Assembly.
Those in favor of the Bill believe that it will make everyone safer if all drivers get insurance, that it will bring more business revenue to the insurance companies, that Connecticut will see a decline in hit and run cases, that there will be more registration fees and more local tax revenue, and a sense of relief for all drivers on Connecticut roads. Proponents also believe that undocumented persons will now become more knowledgeable about the rules of the road.
Statewide, more than 54,000 undocumented immigrants may be eligible. Opponents are angry, claiming that no funding is available for the increased workload to process the tens of thousands of new driver’s license applications, the massive financial burden it may place on the Department of Motor Vehicles, that more time and study is needed to assess funding, personnel resources, and implementation.
Opponents also view this as a misdirected benefit given to people who have broken our laws, and that it will turn Connecticut into a magnet for illegal immigrants.
Four other states have similar laws, but Connecticut would be the only East Coast state with such a program.
Undocumented immigrants contribute to our communities and our economy every day. We work together, we are neighbors, we are friends; undocumented immigrants play with our children, coach our children, attend school with our children, and may even be driving our children. You may be carpooling with an undocumented immigrant. The time has come to put our political views aside and take the hard but necessary steps towards making the streets of our neighborhoods and communities safer for everyone, documented and undocumented alike.
We can no longer afford to act like ostriches and stick our heads in the sand, in the hopes of ignoring the reality surrounding us. Undocumented immigrants are not leaving, and are going to continue driving.
Wouldn't you prefer that they know our state driving laws, that their cars are registered, and that they have insurance? Or, would you rather live in an ostrich-state?
