Rant: Just how many people are driving WITHOUT a license??

[Zomby Woof]

In my line of work, I have to check ID's frequently (tax pro, not a bouncer - although the differences are slight) and I am pretty fucking fed up with all the dumbasses who apparently qualify for little more than a state-issued photo ID, and no license. Yet they drove to the appointment. They drive every day all over the place, flaunting the law and worst of all, reproducing. Are these the idiots behind the insurance rate increases? Drivers WITH licenses are horrible enough behind the wheel, so how bad must these people be to go without?

GET A FUCKING LICENSE PEOPLE. Or quit driving if you can't get one for whatever reason, valid or not. :nuke:

[GOPisEvil]

1. And get some damned insurance while you're at it!

Seriously, if you can't afford the license, insurance and other inspections it takes to operate a vehicle legally, WALK or ride public transportation! Edited to add: The above also applies if you are (a) too lazy to do these things OR (b) unable to because of legal restrictions, such as too many tickets or DUI.

[Zomby Woof]

3. No shit!

I don't check for insurance, but I bet even fewer people have it either.

After getting a $5,000+ tax refund, they ought to get a license and insurance.

I am still reeling from the $25,000 contest winner who could not cough up the $3,000 or so in taxes she owed because she neglected to have advanced withhholding. Where the hell did it go???

[terrya]

11. Illinois has a law mandating that you MUST have car insurance.

And I believe the fine is $500 and suspension of your license for 6 months if you pulled over and you can't show proof of insurance.

I don't own a car, but this law is a damned good one, IMO.

Terry

[GOPisEvil]

12. They have the same laws here...but...

People get around it by buying insurance for 1 month to get all licensed and inspected then letting it lapse. Getting one's license pulled doesn't preclude one from driving - that's the main thrust of ZW's rant...

[amazona]

2. lots of them and what choice do they have ?

We do not have an adequate public transportation system, at least not in my area. If you lose your license, which can happen for something as simple as not being able to afford extortionate insurance rates, then you have no choice but to drive without it and hope for the best. If you give up driving, you give up any chance of being able to get hired or to keep a job, which just makes the problem worse. There are hardship licenses but it seems you can only get those after you have already caused an accident by driving without insurance, so it doesn't seem to be an option for most people I know of who drive without a license.

I don't think we have much right to rant against un-licensed drivers when we make it impossible for people to get and stayed employed unless they can prove they have "reliable transportation" -- which means their own car. Not a public bus which may run once or twice a day. Not grandma dropping them off at the office. Their OWN car. Maybe it's different in other states, but try getting a job in Louisiana without driving a car. Ain't gonna happen.

[Zomby Woof]

4. fuck 'em!

I am not talking about poor people necessarily. Many of the license-free make more money than I do, so that blows the class theory to hell.

I think most of them are just lazy and piss-poor drivers with suspended or revoked licenses.

On Edit: I damn well DO have a right to rant. Plus, a license costs $20.00 and in this state is good until age 65, so the "affordable" argument is also shot to hell.

[David__77]

5. Hmm... I'm sympathetic to many of them.

In this society, not having a car means economic deprivation in terms of employment opportunities and so forth. And the catch 22 is that sometimes it's not easy to get a license. What if you don't have an insured car to take the test on? I remember it was terribly difficult for me to arrange that when I left home and had few resources. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive.

[Zomby Woof]

7. some of them that may be true

But I am talking SUV's and $50,000 in gross income.

I suspect they are drunk drivers, and I have NO sympathy for them.

What is funny is people are assuming I am talking about poor people, which means I am the least classist person in this thread (along with David) because money has NOTHING to do with my rant.

[amazona]

15. well money has everything to do with it where i live

I don't know of anyone offhand who lost their license because of DWI. I'm sure they exist but they're surely not the majority. With my income in the high four figures, maybe I just know more poor people than you do. $20 is 1 to 2 weeks grocery for me. It is not an insignificant chunk of change. And that is just the license renewal. It doesn't take into account the high cost of insurance.

[David__77]

16. Point understood.

There are drunk drivers doing this I'm sure. Unfortunately, I'm speaking from personal experience about the poor people thing with regard to this issue. Also, some people from troubled backgrounds lack the basic skills about how to fill out necessary paperwork and so forth in order to do things the right way. Then they do the wrong thing, get a ticket and a fine, which compounds the problem and it starts a cycle from which someone has a hard time removing themselves.

[slackmaster]

6. I'd guestimate about 1 in 20 people on the roads

Since I'm in a generous mood I'll say that about 5% of the people on California roads have no business driving because they are too stupid or too immature.

[Fovea]

8. I am a cyclist

that is how I get around in ridable weather.
Last year I had two aquaintances killed on the road cycling.
One of them was hit by a drunk driver who had only been let out of jail for his previous DUI conviction hours earlier.

The other was killed by a driver in a police chase who
was fleeing the scene of an attempted vehicular homicide.

Don't get me wrong, cycling is usually a safe activity for those
who work with and among drivers. But it seems that
2003 was a banner year for bad driving. That a certain percentage of the population just snapped.

What's up with these freakin assholes, anyway?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. The problem I have is with DWI or DUI

these people are a danger to the roads and should not be allowed to drive. In Arkansas, most folks can afford the driver's license and basic insurance (that's $25 for the license and about $500 a year for the minimum insurance on two old vehicles), but the ones who drive without a license are inevitably the ones who have been picked up for DUI before. Some have even been involved in traffic accidents. The ones that get me the most steamed up are the ones driving without a license, drunk, who plow into a car and kill everyone inside.

For the folks who live in rural areas and need to work do need transportation-- Around here, there's a charitable organization that supplied refurbished cars to families that can't afford to buy one (they advertise, as it were, on the local NPR station), so I know there are organizations out there helping to address this problem.

[Rainbowreflect]

10. I agree with you.

As part of my job I see my counties booking report every day and it is amazing the number of people picked up on "driving on a suspended" every day. Not to mention the DUIs 3rd, 4th and on & on.
People need to remember that driving is a privilege not a right.

[Loonman]

13. Driving is a privilege, not a right -- --- get a valid license

n/t

[TXlib]

14. Confiscate their car.

If somebody is driving w/o a license, or w/o insurance, confiscate the car. Period. Even if it's not theirs (unless the owner chooses to declare the car stolen, in which case, the car is returned to its owner, and the illegal driver faces felony auto theft charges, as well.)

That makes it prohibitively expensive for recurring behaviour.

[ZenLefty]

17. Worse - they are allowed to drive those grocery cart/kiddie cars

And that requires no license at all! O, the humanity.

[geniph]

18. I went on a ride-along with a cop friend of mine

and she said, of the people she pulls over for minor violations like taillights out, things like that, at least 25% have either a suspended license or no insurance. During the ride-along, she pulled over a guy whose taillights were out (both of them), and what would have been just an equipment warning (no fine) became a very big deal because the guy had a) no license, b) no insurance (automatic $479 fine), and c) an outstanding warrant for his arrest (for assaulting a cop, no less). The moral of that story is, if you're driving without valid paper or with a warrant hanging over your head, be bright enough at least to check that your equipment's all functional. DUHHH!!!

And I agree, driving is not a guaranteed right. I managed for years without a car, even living in a rural area. I rode a bike to where I could catch a bus or vanpool to work. It IS possible to hold down a job without your own car. I think we make licenses entirely too easy to get and keep as it is (and I grew up in the projects, so it's not a class issue with me, either).

By the way, Laurin, it's "flouting" you meant, not "flaunting." Thus endeth the word-usage nitpicking of the day. ;-) (I only flame the grammar of my friends!)

[RobinA]

19. This Goes Along With My Rule

One of my Top Ten Rules for Life while in college was, Never sit in the car in a no parking zone to get high.

[Zomby Woof]

21. I like the sound of flaunting better

Therefore it is correct. :P

[jus_the_facts]

20. YEAH....

:wtf:

.....we should have some coffee and cuss 'em some more!! :evilgrin:

[Zomby Woof]

23. lol

I think people hit on my pet peeves in this thread: drunk drivers, and people who drive insurance rates up.

Anyone who has no license because they are poor, have a disability, AND they do not drive as a result, has my sympathy and support.

Some people didn't catch the difference. :-)

[beyurslf]

22. I carry a state issued ID in my wallet and have a DL in my glove box

but if I went in to an appointment with you, I would show you my ID and not DL. The DL stays in the car.