Responding to collision calls that involve unlicensed drivers is pretty common for me. If the regular public actually knew how many collisions were caused by unlicensed drivers they would be shocked.

Sometimes it seems like I can’t go to a collision call without at least one of the drivers being unlicensed. Sometimes it’s both drivers.

To me it’s the most basic rule of driving. Have a license. It’s pretty easy, but there are a lot of people out there who just don’t care about our laws or the rules. It’s a common theme in police work.

There are people out there who have been cited numerous times for driving while unlicensed, but they’re still out there committing violations and crashing into people.

And when they do crash, the unlicensed driver is almost always at fault. It’s amazing how much damage and destruction they cause.

It’s one thing if you’re unlicensed and minding your own business. If I don’t know about it then there’s no reason to bother you. But it’s another thing if you’re out there crashing into people and hurting them.

Friday night was another example of the unlicensed driver causing chaos and not caring.

The driver told me he was “going a little fast,” while he was looking at his phone to change a song. He was still looking down when he swerved to the left and crashed into a car that was stopped for a red light.

He never saw the car before he hit it because he was looking down at his phone the entire time.

While I was interviewing him, he told me he has been cited twice for no license and this was his second time being involved in a collision.

Then I saw something written on his windshield that left me shaking my head like I normally do at work. I shake my head so much at irresponsibility that I’m almost like a sideways bobblehead.

The date 1-23-15 was written on the windshield, along with 30 DAY. This was a marking from a tow company after the vehicle had been taken to the yard.

This guy had his vehicle impounded for 30 days on January 23rd, for driving while unlicensed. He hadn’t even bothered to erase the markings from his windshield.

If he can’t erase the tow company markings, what makes you think he even cares about what kind of damage or harm he does with his car? The proof was right there in the street because both cars were towed.

During the interview he told me he had been living illegally in California  and didn’t have a license. I asked him why he hadn’t gone to the DMV because they were handling out driver’s licenses to everybody since the beginning of January.

His answer should get you upset if you’re following all the rules and have car insurance.

He just hadn’t gone yet. He hadn’t even made the effort to go to the DMV, despite the fact that they’re handling out licenses to everyone like candy.

When he found out his car was being impounded again he asked if he could have a chance. I told him no way. He then asked, “Can you just have the tow truck put the car in my backyard?” NO!

This article isn’t a debate if they should get licenses or not. That’s for someone else to decide. I’m just telling a story about what happens almost nightly where I work.

In California, everyone has the ability to get a driver’s license no matter what country they’re from or what their citizenship is. That’s fine, but when a person hasn’t even made the effort to go to the DMV then it’s beyond lazy and I have no sympathy.

Unfortunately they’re out there on the roads with the rest of us. Stay safe out there.