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?