Kansas legislators studying laws on suspending a driver’s license would do well to offer a way for people who lose a license to drive for necessary cause, including work, school and medical care.
Kansas laws on driving while a license is suspended or revoked are tough: If you lose your license, you just can’t drive.
Maybe there was a time when this worked, back when life did not revolve around the motor car. But in today’s world, where public transit is scarce and most people have to have a car to get to work or school, the reality is, people find they just have to drive.
Many are suspended because they could not pay fines, others for excessive traffic tickets or for driving while impaired. For the most part, we don’t feel sorry for them. They earned their punishment.
But losing a driver’s license can result in a lot of people being stuck in a revolving door. They can’t afford to pay fines, so they lose their license. The wind up owing even more. Then they go to jail for contempt of court. If working, they may lose their job.
And they are deeper in the hole but still can’t afford to to pay their tickets.
What do we expect of people?
Personal responsibility is important, we know. But is there a better way to get it than throwing people in the slammer, taking away their license and expecting them somehow to get to a job or interview without driving?
The state Department of Revenue estimates that about 208,000 drivers are suspended from driving privileges at any one time, 59 percent of them for failure to pay traffic tickets, according to a story in the Topeka Capital-Journal. About 13,000 have had their license revoked, 13 percent of those due to driving while suspended, driving without insurance or unpaid traffic fines.
It’s easy to see the main issue is not those being punished for drunk driving, though they certainly are part of the problem. And suspended drivers often are repeat offenders, because they are stuck in that revolving door: they still can’t get to work or school without a car.
The poor, members of a special study committee on restricted driving privileges agreed, may face this nightmare over something as simple as a speeding ticket they can’t or just don’t pay.
No one seems to know how to change the law to help them without giving up on enforcement of traffic laws and collecting fines, however.
“If you ask some of the families in Kansas, this has become a permanent life sentence,” said Sheila Officer, chair of the Wichita Racial Profiling Advisory Board. “Now I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine doing my daily tasks without a driver’s license, being able to drive.”
Some suggested granting those who behave a restricted license good only for work, school or medical appointments. Others would like to give judges discretion to set up payment plans for fines. We think neither would accomplish much without counseling on how people can take responsibility for their own lives.
But offering those who will a way out of the ticket trap would be a welcome change.
