Driver's certificates: Logic meets the streets

R. A. Hettinga rah at shipwright.com
Tue Apr 27 06:46:39 PDT 2004


<http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=38&screen=newsprint&news_id=32642>


Nashville City Paper


Driver's certificates: Logic meets the streets


April 27, 2004
 

 Gov. Phil Bredesen split the difference on allowing illegal aliens to get
driver's licenses, and his solution is a good one.

Bredesen is proposing legislation that will allow only U.S. citizens and
lawful permanent residents of the United States to get Tennessee driver's
licenses.

The administration says it will be the toughest driver's license policy in
the nation. It's nice to finally be first in something desirable.

But the Bredesen administration has also answered the question of what to
do with illegal aliens working in Tennessee who operate motor vehicles. The
argument for issuing them driver's licenses has always been that at least
the state can be sure they know our rules of the road which are so often
completely different from their countries of origin.

Bredesen has proposed that the state issue a "certificate of driving" to
those who either have temporary, legal documents to work or go to school
here or to those who can prove their identity and residence in Tennessee.

The certificates cannot be used as legal identification so, for example,
the bearer of a certificate could not use it to board a plane or rent a car.

Toughening up our driver's license requirements and finding a way to
accommodate those who don't meet requirements for citizenship is a good
compromise.


-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'





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