More Controversy on NY Drivers License Proposal

Jim Dwyer reports in the NY Times:

Last month, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he would permit people who could meet rigorous standards of proof for their identity — and who could pass a driving test — to get licenses to drive, regardless of their immigration status. The benefits, the governor has argued, would be fewer people on the road without licenses and insurance, reducing hit-and-run accidents and other burdens imposed by uninsured drivers. Until 2004, the state routinely gave licenses to people who did not have legal immigration status.

Mr. Spitzer has met ferocious opposition from people who say this policy will give dangerous individuals a chance to burrow into society, and broadly rewards people who have broken immigration laws.

Beyond any doubt, the streets and roads of New York already include many unlicensed and uninsured drivers. Dave, 28, an electrician living in the Bronx, has been in the United States for six years, overstaying his visa. He finds himself behind the wheel of a van at work. “I don’t drive all the time, but sometimes I have to,” he said. “I avoid it if I can, but I can’t always. I’m very afraid that if I got pulled over it would mean a lot of problems.”

The Spitzer administration estimates that expanding the number of licensed drivers will save $120 million a year in premiums that now cover the costs of those who are uninsured. Click here for full story.

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