California Drivers Learn Hard Lessons About Law Enforcement

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Nov 15, 1999 | by David C. Stonlinsky

As a responsible citizen, I renew driver's license and vehicle registration. I get smog checks, carry insurance and try to obey traffic regulations. But I am beginning to feel like a fool because the only reward the state gives me for obeying its laws is more laws to obey. Those who flout the law, in contrast, often are rewarded:

* Two men in a pickup truck tried to force my car across the centerline into oncoming traffic. When this failed, they skidded to a stop, hoping I would rear-end them. When this too failed, they drove off through a red light. My wife copied the license number, but we did not call the police. It would be our word against theirs and, if they discovered who we were, they might visit us. Since they had committed assault with a deadly weapon, I did not look forward to their visit, and I had no confidence that the authorities would not divulge our names. My only options were to do nothing or to locate the driver and visit him.

* A car rear-ended mine at a red light. The driver had no insurance. I was out the $500 deductible, and my insurance company was out the rest of the repair bill. They got him to make monthly payments, which soon stopped. I wrote the Department of Motor Vehicles, or DMV, expecting that his license would be suspended until he repaid me and obtained insurance. But DMV replied that this was no longer true. I would have to go to court and get a judgment against the other driver; only then would DMV act. Thus DMV left it to me to enforce the financial-responsibility law.

* A sports car approached from behind, cut around our car with inches to spare and sped off. We pulled up next to it at a red light, and my wife shouted, "Slow down." The driver sprayed her face with a white substance and drove off too fast to follow. Luckily the substance was silly string, not oven cleaner. We called the police but couldn't give a license number. His car was new and DMV no longer issues paper license plates. Apparently the few cents they cost is just too much. The police could do nothing. It was up to me to protect my wife, but how? If I forced his car to the curb and grabbed him, I would be arrested.

* A car rear-ended mine while I was stopped for a fire truck. The driver had no insurance. I copied the information from his driver's license and vehicle registration. But the driver's license was counterfeit, the name and address were phony and the license plates were taken off a wrecked car. Apparently this is common. Again, I was stuck with the deductible. Again, the uninsured-motorist coverage did not apply. This time I canceled it, while chuckling at those who want guns to be registered "like cars."

* Earlier this year, a hit-and-run driver struck a child on a bicycle, bouncing him over the hood of the vehicle. The child received minor injuries, making the crime a misdemeanor, as if only property were damaged. A passerby got the license number, so the police wrote a letter to the driver, asking him to come in. Nothing happened. For three months the police were too busy. They would have done more if the child were seriously hurt, making the crime a felony. The hit-and-run driver then struck another child on a bicycle, knocking him through the windshield and into the car. He carried the child 13 miles, and then dumped the body. This time he was arrested. After the first accident, he learned that hurting a child is no worse than denting a fender and that police do not arrest drivers who flee after hitting children. He is guilty of murder, but the government is guilty of teaching him this lethal lesson.

The principal contact most people have with the justice system concerns traffic citations or accidents. Often this experience teaches that irresponsibility pays. The DMV collects taxes but does not protect us against uninsured drivers, or even against dangerous drivers in new cars. The police cannot arrest a person unless they know who he is, and they will not find out if they are too busy to investigate accidents unless someone is seriously injured. Besides, phony licenses are readily available. Parking fines are profitable, so there are plenty of parking officers watching for expired meters. But police cost money, so there are too few to arrest hit-and-run drivers who hurt children. We are revenue sources, not citizens deserving protection. We are like sheep waiting to be fleeced, but without a sheepdog to protect us from wolves.

The system often punishes the responsible and rewards the irresponsible, while leaving important aspects of law enforcement to the victims. No wonder fewer citizens vote, confidence in government is low and many try to settle traffic, business or personal disputes themselves. Do we really want the nonviolent to feel helpless while the violent take matters into their own hands? If not, why are we teaching these lessons?

David C. Stolinsky has taught internal medicine at the University of California and writes on cultural issues from Los Angeles.