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Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offense?

Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offense?


  • Total voters
    44
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

The fines would exceed the value of many of the vehicles on the road today.
Is there a way a vehicle owner can "quit claim" a vehicle title and just let them keep it?
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

The fines would exceed the value of many of the vehicles on the road today.
not a problem
but they would have to acquire another vehicle to be able to drive again
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

Evidence of what?
of the charges levied
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

Is there a way a vehicle owner can "quit claim" a vehicle title and just let them keep it?
no
the authorities would have to sell the vehicle at public auction
proceeds remaining - if any - after cost of the sale and the payment of outstanding obligations would be returned to the former owner of the now sold vehicle
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

of the charges levied
Right. They're charged with driving without a license... and the evidence has to be that single specific vehicle. Not just that they were driving A vehicle... it has to be that one.

They then take the jury and/or judge out to the parking lot to see said specific vehicle, and they see... a vehicle. Unless, I guess, they can show a CSI-like fingerprint study on the steering wheel, I guess. That'll make a difference.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

no
the authorities would have to sell the vehicle at public auction
proceeds remaining - if any - after cost of the sale and the payment of outstanding obligations would be returned to the former owner of the now sold vehicle
When I said "keep it", I meant eventually sold at auction.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

This is how it is often done, but the states that I am familiar with leave towing up to the discretion of the officer. So, if you get a prick...

A officer doing his job is a prick?
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

How many "driving without a license" citations actually get a jury trial every year? None, that's how many. Either you have a valid driver's license, or you don't. If you don't, you're given a ticket, go before a judge and pay a fine. Or in some cases, mail in the fine without seeing a judge. The car gets towed, and whoever owns the car will have to come to the impound lot to pick it up, and pay the fees. :shrug: Easy peasy.

I don't see why so many people have their shorts in a bunch over this. It's a road safety issue. No license, no drivey, no exceptions.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

It really depends on what the crime was, there are some crimes where the criminal ought to forfeit the vehicle regardless of whether they have a license or not. I would say that for minor offenses, the unlicensed driver ought to be able to have their car driven home by someone licensed and insured to of so, or have it towed at the driver's expense if they cannot provise a licensed driver immediately. Someone without a license should never be allowed to drive the vehicle regardless. Repeat offenders, caught driving without a license several times, ought to have their vehicle towed, impounded and sold.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

What happened to due process?
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

Since having the car sitting on the side of the road is a hazard, I would say give them a limited amount of time to get an unlicensed driver there. If they can do so, then that person can drive the car home for them, and if not, it gets towed so it's not just sitting there forever.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

What happened to due process?

how is due process being denied?
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

Everyone knows that a man with his family isn't going to get his vehicle towed if his wife has a license.

Everyone also knows that family men are generally responsible enough to carry their licenses with them.

If there is a safety issue (driver was pulled over on an interstate highway or other highway outside of town, with no way for the driver and passengers to seek shelter and/or contact someone to pick them up, pulled over late at night, etc.) I would allow another licensed driver in the vehicle to drive the car after citing the offending driver.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

What happened to due process?

Cars don't get due process. People without licenses cannot legally drive. Cars cannot be left on the side of the road. Do the math.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

What happened to due process?

We are talking due process. Illegal driver is arrested and car taken away. The court decides if she/he is guilty of driving without a license. If guilty, idiot driver pays substantial fees or losses car if illegal driver was also the proud owner of a DUI. Driving is a priviledge and not a right ....abuse the priviledge and you will get your arse kicked.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

I think the punishment for unlicensed driving should be more extreme... But I don't see a benefit in punishing the car itself. So many variables that can't be foreseen. How about we punish the driver more directly?
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

The real question here is how can the government dissuade people from driving without a license and/or insurance and what kind of penalties are harsh enough to be effective towards those ends?

I would suggest that unlicensed drivers be fined and vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers be impounded until the owner of the vehicle can produce a valid license. Beyond an extraction fee for the owner of the vehicle, owners should also be charged monthly maintenance for the impound until they extract the vehicle or sign a waiver of ownership over to the government at which time it would no longer be their property.

Short of jail time, this to me appears to be as effective as the government could reasonably expect to be with penalizing unlicensed driving. It would certainly give pause to any licensed drivers considered lending their vehicle to an unlicensed friend.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

Since having the car sitting on the side of the road is a hazard, I would say give them a limited amount of time to get an unlicensed driver there. If they can do so, then that person can drive the car home for them, and if not, it gets towed so it's not just sitting there forever.
Depends on the road. Out on an open highway/freeway, sure. In town, it may be a street where street parking is 100% legal. Or, there may be a parking lot right there that could accommodate the vehicle. If parking is legal, just park the car and set in motion the otherwise normal parking time limits laws, if any.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

Towing charges and impoundment fees should be paid by every unlicensed driver. Illegals should be processed and sent to their country of origin if identified in any traffic incident or road block.
But is such a hard arse draconian approach effective and fair ?
As far as "illegals" are concerned, its way past high time that the law makers did something here.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

The real question here is how can the government dissuade people from driving without a license and/or insurance and what kind of penalties are harsh enough to be effective towards those ends?

I would suggest that unlicensed drivers be fined and vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers be impounded until the owner of the vehicle can produce a valid license. Beyond an extraction fee for the owner of the vehicle, owners should also be charged monthly maintenance for the impound until they extract the vehicle or sign a waiver of ownership over to the government at which time it would no longer be their property.

Short of jail time, this to me appears to be as effective as the government could reasonably expect to be with penalizing unlicensed driving. It would certainly give pause to any licensed drivers considered lending their vehicle to an unlicensed friend.
These people are poor to begin with and are made more poor by these charges..
There must be another way that is fair, yet effective...
Education is the answer.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

UK law on uninsured driving allows seizure of the vehicle. If you have no valid license, then any insurance is invalidated, so the policeman who stopped you will call up and have the car you are driving towed there and then. There's a $190 recovery charge, plus $30 per day storage fee. After 10 days the car will be crushed, or sold at auction to defray costs. If it's your car, you have the option to sign away ownership at this point to avoid the charges. If you or the owner want it back you/they must bring the payment, evidence of insurance and a licensed driver to collect the car from the pound. All this is over and above any fines or penalty points for the offence itself.
There's an awful lot of clunkers in the crusher that might otherwise be on the roads today, and good riddance.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

These people are poor to begin with and are made more poor by these charges..
There must be another way that is fair, yet effective...
Education is the answer.
I'm sorry, just so I understand what you're saying: are you suggesting that individuals who drive without first obtaining a valid drivers license do so because they are poor?

Other than informing residents that it is illegal to drive without a license and that people who break the law will be penalized for doing so, what would such "education" consist of?
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

UK law on uninsured driving allows seizure of the vehicle. If you have no valid license, then any insurance is invalidated, so the policeman who stopped you will call up and have the car you are driving towed there and then. There's a $190 recovery charge, plus $30 per day storage fee. After 10 days the car will be crushed, or sold at auction to defray costs. If it's your car, you have the option to sign away ownership at this point to avoid the charges. If you or the owner want it back you/they must bring the payment, evidence of insurance and a licensed driver to collect the car from the pound. All this is over and above any fines or penalty points for the offence itself.
There's an awful lot of clunkers in the crusher that might otherwise be on the roads today, and good riddance.
It's far less "draconian" to seize the vehicle than it is to seize the individual committing the crime.
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

how is due process being denied?
Well, you are correct. It's not per se. But consider the situation where the unlicensed driver is not the registered owner of the vehicle in question. By summarily taking possession of the vehicle they could in fact be violating someone else's constitutionally protected right against unreasonable seizures, and there have in fact been cases filed against the city of Chicago regarding this very situation. I never followed up on them, so I cannot say how the courts ruled, if they even agreed to hear the case at all.

Cars don't get due process. People without licenses cannot legally drive. Cars cannot be left on the side of the road. Do the math.
In general I would agree with everything except the "cars cannot be left on the side of the road" claim. While true they may in fact pose a significant hazard in many cases, if this is the reason for the removal then logic would force the police to tow even legal licensed driver's cars in a number of circumstances.... Flat tire, hazard in the roadway, car must be towed... Out of gas, hazard in the roadway, car must be towed... Bad battery, hazard in the roadway, car must be towed... All of these are example where it seems reasonable to allow a legal driver adequate time to rectify the situation and move his vehicle himself. If it is reasonable to allow people in these situations an ample amount of time to relocate their vehicles then this ample time criteria should also apply to those persons found to be driving without a license, unless you just want those persons driving illegally (without valid driver's license) to face stiffer penalties. If the latter is true, why not just up the punishments allowed for the "driving without a valid license" citation.

We are talking due process. Illegal driver is arrested and car taken away. The court decides if she/he is guilty of driving without a license. If guilty, idiot driver pays substantial fees or losses car if illegal driver was also the proud owner of a DUI. Driving is a priviledge and not a right ....abuse the priviledge and you will get your arse kicked.
Sure, but what if the court decides that the state was wrong... Essentially finds the driver not guilty? Is he/she to be reimbursed by the state for the towing costs? the impound fees? Potential lost wages due to lack of transportation during the time their property was being withheld from them? Allowing them to arrange for their own vehicle removal via reasonable time constraints seems the most logical for any number of reasons.

Essentially I would like those in favor ALWAYS towing/Impounding a vehicle when a police officer determines the driver is driving without a valid license to consider these three different situations. These ALL have actually occurred.

1. A person was stopped and eventually cited for driving without a valid license because his license required him to wear corrective lenses while driving. It just so happened that this person had received corrective eye surgery a couple months prior back to near perfect vision. It never occurred to the person that he needed to "update" his driver's license. By the letter of the law, I don't disagree he was technically in the wrong and perhaps should have been more conscious of the need to update his DL appropriately. I am fairly confident he probably "won" his day in court but are people really arguing that this person should have his property seized?

2. Often times a vehicle is a "family vehicle" that all members of a family depend upon. do we really want to create a situation where an errant irresponsible 16 year old (and many of them are, its sometimes a condition of youth) can effect an entire family's ability to get groceries, get to work, etc...

3. Car thieves are pretty good at hiding the fact that a car they are using is stolen by also stealing license plates from the same make/model/color of a different car so when the cops run the plates the stolen cars (on first glance) appears to legitimate. When these thieves rack up enough parking and/or camera enforced violations. The registered owner of the stolen license plates can have his license suspended without even having knowledge that it is in fact suspended, not to mention it is only suspended as a result of him/her being a victim of identity theft. These people also typically will win their day in court so to speak but should these people also have the additional effect of having the state punish them after they have already been victimized?

While I readily admit situation 1 is an extremely rare anomaly , situations 2 and 3 happen all too often here in Chicago. So I ask you, when making the blanket statement the that towing should occur in all occasions involving a police officer's determination that a driver is operating a vehicle without proper permit, are you taking these types of situations into account?
 
Re: Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offen

Should unlicensed drivers have their vehicles towed when pulled over for an offense?

Yes,but only if they can not find licensed driver to drive the vehicle home.
Yes,regardless if they can find a licensed driver to drive the vehicle home.
No
other

I say yes regardless if they can find a licensed driver to drive the car home.They are driving without license,they should have their car towed when pulled over for a traffic offense.Just letting some other guy tow the car will just mean the individual will go back to driving unlicensed.

There are too many variables to do anything other than vote "other".
 
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