In the four years since Connecticut implemented a policy\nallowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver\u2019s licenses, more than 50,000\nundocumented immigrants have taken written exams, vision tests and road tests,\nwhich has funneled several million dollars into the Connecticut Department of\nMotor Vehicles, according to a story by the New England Center for\nInvestigative Reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n
In addition, that state has seen a reduction in hit-and-run\ncrashes and steep declines in the number of people found guilty of unlicensed\ndriving.<\/p>\n\n\n
However, some police remain skeptical that training and\nlicensing is the sole reason for 1,200 fewer hit-and-run crashes in 2018\ncompared to 2016. Statewide, the number of hit-and-run crashes dropped 9\npercent between 2016 and 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n
But, Charles Grasso, of the Connecticut Transportation Safety\nResearch Center, said the policy is making a difference in both safety and\ndriver behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cPeople that have gotten licenses\u2026[are] trained right, so it has\nmade the roads safer,\u201d Grasso, a former police sergeant who now works with\nlocal police on crash investigations, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 10 cities with the highest concentration of \u201cdrive only\u201d\nlicenses issued to undocumented immigrants, hit-and-run crashes fell 15 percent\nbetween 2016 and 2018, according to data obtained by the New England Center for\nInvestigative Reporting. The state\ndidn\u2019t compile hit-and-run crash data before 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe feedback I\u2019m getting is that the licenses are keeping\npeople at the scene because they know that they have a driver\u2019s license now,\u201d\nGrasso said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Besides Connecticut, 11 other states, the District of Columbia\nand Puerto Rico allow undocumented immigrants to drive legally.<\/p>\n\n\n
Sebastian, a 30-year-old from Guatemala who lives in New Haven,\nhas taken advantage of the law. His full name is not being used due to his\nimmigration status.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cBefore I got the license, I was scared because sometimes [I\u2019d] see a state trooper and think, \u2018I hope he\u2019s not pulling me over.\u2019 But after\u2026I have the driver\u2019s license, I feel safe like American people. They drive without worries,\u201d he said. <\/strong><\/p>“Sebastian”, New Haven<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nThe law giving undocumented immigrants driver\u2019s license went\ninto effect in 2015. It created a license with the letters \u201cDO\u201d or \u201cDrive\nOnly.\u201d The document cannot be used to go through airport security or be placed\non voter rolls. Sebastian had to prove residency in Connecticut, pass a series\nof tests and get his car insured.<\/p>\n\n\n
In Hartford, data shows that hit-and-run crashes fell more than\n20 percent since 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n
But Hartford police Lt. Paul Cicero remains skeptical of the link between Drive Only licenses and improved road safety. A three-year trend, he said, is not enough time to make a judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n
There are roughly 2,000 newly trained and licensed undocumented immigrant drivers in the city, but Cicero pointed to traffic cameras and better street policing as reasons for lower hit-and-run crash numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n
But he admitted the licenses do help with policing, saving\nofficers time when issuing routine citations.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019d be times we pulled somebody over and they don\u2019t have\nany ID and it takes an officer off the road for one, two, three hours,\u201d Cicero\nsaid. \u201cIt typically ruins someone\u2019s day going to jail, getting fingerprinted,\ngetting photographed, waiting for fingerprints to come back. So, having these\nDrive Only licenses can be very beneficial to both the police and the\ncommunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SUGGESTION: Getting Your Car Ready For Spring (and Summer) <\/h4>\n\n\n
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And with thousands of newly legal drivers on the road, courts in Connecticut have found about 4,000 fewer people guilty of unlicensed driving in the past four years, according to Connecticut judicial data obtained by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. That translates to roughly a million-dollar decrease in fines levied by state courts.<\/p>\n\n\n
For undocumented immigrants like Luis, a landscaper living in\nNew Haven, such fines posed a hardship.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cSometimes we don\u2019t have the money,\u201d he said. \u201cEven myself, I\ngot my family, I got my wife, my kids. It\u2019s too hard for me to pay you $500 in\nfines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n