Crime & Safety
DMV Study: Unlicensed Drivers Pose Threat on California Roads
Drivers with revoked or suspended licenses or who drive without a license are more likely to cause fatal car accidents, according to a new state study.
Drivers who are unlicensed or have a suspended or revoked license are nearly three times more likely to cause a fatal crash, a new California Department of Motor Vehicles study found.
But it’s even more dangerous to be an unlicensed driver than to drive with a suspended or revoked license. Compared to the average legal driver, such drivers are 2.6 to 2.73 times more likely to cause a fatal crash, depending on the driver.
The study, Fatal Crash Rates for Suspended/Revoked and Unlicensed Drivers, took crash data over a span of 23 years. Researchers looked at the correlation among two-vehicle fatal crashes where one driver was at fault. The at-fault crash risk of drivers without permission to drive has not diminished over time.
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The Department of Motor Vehicles found that people between the ages of 20 and 29 who do not have authorized licenses have the largest percentage of two-vehicle fatal car accidents.
If caught with a suspended or revoked license or found to be driving without one, the citation can result in a 30-day vehicle impoundment, thousands of dollars in fines, and/or time added to a suspension or probation period.
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Collisions involving drivers who do not have the legal right to be on the road are familiar occurrances in the Napa Valley, where a 15-year-old unlicensed driver was involved last April in a collision that injured five people.
A more recent example came New Year's Eve when a motorist was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after his license had been suspended for the same offense.
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