New California Measure by Proponents for Immigrant Rights: Restricting Motor Vehicle Impounding of U
In California, driving remains a privilege, not a right. An individual must have a valid license to drive. A valid license is one that is not suspended, revoked, or expired, and is issued to you by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Driving without a license is a punishable offense under California Vehicle Code 12500 (a). Inasmuch as the legality of driving has not yet changed much over the years, impounding procedures have evolved, becoming more driver-friendly.
Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-Santa Rosa, and supported by immigrant rights activists, pushed into law a new measure to protect unlicensed vehicle drivers from vehicle impounding. Critics assert that police have misused drunk driver checkpoints to seize the vehicles of sober but unlicensed drivers and have essentially targeted primarily illegal immigrants who cannot obtain a driver's license under California law.
According to legislative measure AB 353, which was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in October, police can no longer impound a vehicle solely because the driver is unlicensed; gives unlicensed motorists time to find a legal driver and avoid impound. The bill fundamentally alters many of the previous vehicles codes, while making some augmentations. Under prior law, law enforcement authorities may impound the cars of unlicensed drivers for 30 days. The cost of retrieving an impounded vehicle can total in the range of $2,000 fines and fees. Indeed, under previous laws cities were able to hold cars taken from unlicensed drivers for 30 days and the accumulated impound fees had the potential to be more than the car is worth; the result is that many owners simply abandon the car.
Data from the state Office of Traffic Safety shows that at roadway operations during the holidays, police impounded six cars for every one DUI arrest made in 2010. Sobriety checkpoints are intended to target drunken drivers, but the largest component of related impounded did not involve DUIs. Police must release vehicles taken from sober but unlicensed drivers at DUI checkpoints to a qualified representative of the owner. If a qualified driver is not present and the car remains at the checkpoint when the operation ends, police can have it towed and held for a short time, the bill states. But, in this case, vehicle owners would pay release fees, plus a night's tow and storage charges to retrieve the cars that cost probably a few hundred dollars, rather than a couple thousand for impounding. Officers also maintain the authority to issue written citations for unlicensed driving.
Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-Santa Rosa, and supported by immigrant rights activists, pushed into law a new measure to protect unlicensed vehicle drivers from vehicle impounding. Critics assert that police have misused drunk driver checkpoints to seize the vehicles of sober but unlicensed drivers and have essentially targeted primarily illegal immigrants who cannot obtain a driver's license under California law.
According to legislative measure AB 353, which was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in October, police can no longer impound a vehicle solely because the driver is unlicensed; gives unlicensed motorists time to find a legal driver and avoid impound. The bill fundamentally alters many of the previous vehicles codes, while making some augmentations. Under prior law, law enforcement authorities may impound the cars of unlicensed drivers for 30 days. The cost of retrieving an impounded vehicle can total in the range of $2,000 fines and fees. Indeed, under previous laws cities were able to hold cars taken from unlicensed drivers for 30 days and the accumulated impound fees had the potential to be more than the car is worth; the result is that many owners simply abandon the car.
Data from the state Office of Traffic Safety shows that at roadway operations during the holidays, police impounded six cars for every one DUI arrest made in 2010. Sobriety checkpoints are intended to target drunken drivers, but the largest component of related impounded did not involve DUIs. Police must release vehicles taken from sober but unlicensed drivers at DUI checkpoints to a qualified representative of the owner. If a qualified driver is not present and the car remains at the checkpoint when the operation ends, police can have it towed and held for a short time, the bill states. But, in this case, vehicle owners would pay release fees, plus a night's tow and storage charges to retrieve the cars that cost probably a few hundred dollars, rather than a couple thousand for impounding. Officers also maintain the authority to issue written citations for unlicensed driving.
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