Transportation Alternatives supports bill to allow illegal immigrants to get driver licenses

As reported by the Daily News: 

Saying it would increase traffic safety, a leading anti-car organization has thrown its support behind a bill to allow illegal immigrants in New York to get driver's licenses.

"Non-citizen drivers with verifiable, reliable forms of identification could then by tested on New York’s rules of the road, and be required to obtain auto insurance coverage, have their car inspected and maintain their vehicle’s registration," the non-profit advocacy group Transportation Alternatives wrote in memo in support of the bill.

Transportation Alternatives estimates that "tens of thousands" of illegal immigrants are driving without licenses on the streets of New York.

"Because these drivers are not subject to the same training and accountability standards as other drivers, they pose a significant public safety threat," the memo says. "Unlicensed drives are dangerous."

The memo cites a AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Study that found unlicensed drives five times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes and more likely to flee the scene of an accident.

Eleven states in the U.S., including California, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut and Maryland, allow undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses. 

Peralta called the support from Transportation Alternatives and the Worker Justice Center For New York "significant."

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