The California DMV routinely allows deadly drivers to operate on our roadways, a CalMatters investigation has found.

The California DMV routinely allows dangerous drivers with horrifying histories to continue to operate on our roadways. Too often they go on to kill. Many keep driving even after they kill. Some go on to kill again.

  • socphoenix@midwest.social
    9·
    2 days ago

    The court records and driving histories reveal a state so concerned with people having access to motor vehicles for work and life that it allows deadly drivers to share our roads despite the cost. Officials may call driving a privilege, but they treat it as a right — often failing to take drivers’ licenses even after they kill someone on the road.

    With little to no mass transit in most of the country these people would often become impoverished and or essentially wards of the state so this is not surprising.

    We found nearly 40% of the drivers charged with vehicular manslaughter since 2019 have a valid license.

    I honestly figured this would be higher. I don’t expect anything to change as long as this country is intensely car focused for transportation though.

  • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    6·
    2 days ago

    idk about California but you practically need a car to live comfortably where I live (smaller FL town), if someone were to lose their license here they’d probably just keep driving and hope they don’t get caught. We don’t have busses, trains, etc. Hell we don’t even have a sidewalk to the nearest grocery store that’s ~2 miles away.

    • L0rdMathias@sh.itjust.works
      31·
      2 days ago

      Coming from a very car centric city, where losing your license is basically isolating you to your immediate neighborhood, I see where you are coming from. It would be difficult to not be able to drive, I would have to put any amount forethought into my daily schedule (Which is arguably a good thing for me personally, but I digress).

      I don’t give a fuck about anyone’s inability to handle such a powerful tool. Power is proportional to responsibility. If a driver gets into ANY vehicle based accident, IT IS assault and battery with a deadly weapon. If it cannot be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the error was 100% a mechanical failure, then the driver should be treated as though they INTENDED to use lethal force with their deadly weapon. You should always be held fully accountable for your intent to operate something that you clearly can’t be trusted to control.

      Yes, those people who can’t handle driving would be isolated to their neighborhoods. Tough shit. Think about how dumb the average person is, then realized that 50% of people are dumber than that. Cities need to build their infrastructure to adapt to the lowest common demoniator, not force people to operate way beyond their capacity. Some people suck and they will always suck and there’s nothing you can do. They will never learn how to drive, they will never improve, and they will never pass GO to collect $200. To the city Managers/Engineers/Designers need to stop giving every person unrestricted access to a car just because you are incapable of making a city properly. I don’t give a fuck if they have to walk 100 goddamned miles to work. If they cannot get to work without respecting and understanding these dangerous and deadly weapons, then you don’t get to use them as a crutch when making your designs.

      And don’t even get me started on fucking gasoline. It’s absurd that people can just go get it, then store that shit in their houses in plastic containers. It’s absurd that the system allows people that failed high school chemistry to be allowed to handle such a volatile substance.