Politics Outweigh Duty to "Protect and Serve"
Over a hundred people turned out January 17th at St. Nicholas Church in Northridge, CA. The crowd wanted to voice their opinion about AB 353 (Authored by Gil Cedillo, Democratic Assemblyman from L. A.). The bill will stop the impoundment of cars of unlicensed drivers caught at sobriety check points.
Reports from the meeting stated that they could not find anyone in the crowd who supported the bill. Many of the people who came out were victims of accidents caused by unlicensed drivers. Outraged victims spoke up and spoke out. One of the loudest voices was that of Don Rosenburg who lost his son to a unlicensed driver last year in San Francisco. He has been sharing his heartbreaking story to do what the politicians should be doing; protecting the public and trying to stop the bill.
On June 14, 2011 Roberto Galo drove the wrong way down a one way street. He had no license and no insurance. He was arrested and his car was impounded. Unfortunately, he got his car back in 24 hours. Forty-five days later Galo was involved in a head on collision with Drew Rosenburg. Since both were going slow the collision did not kill Drew. Galo tried to flee, and in the process he ran over the body of Drew 3 times. His final attempt to get away was halted when a man jumped in front of Galo’s vehicle. He stopped, his tire on the abdomen of Drew. Twenty-five year old Drew, a second year law student, was killed. Adding insult to injury, the Rosenburg family, while dealing with the loss of their son, have been facing the reality that politicians are de-criminalizing unlicensed driving. “We’re going to balance the needs of the community and the desires of the community versus public safety which is paramount,” stated Spokesperson Peter Sander to the LA Times.
Is it in the publics best interest to have unlicensed drivers unleashed and free to flood the roadways? Rosenburg and thousands of other California citizens say no.
Statistics show that unlicensed drivers are 5 times as likely to be involved in a fatal accident. Additionally, 20% of fatal crashes involved a driver without a valid drivers license. With these statistics, LA Police Chief Beck made this statement in March 2011, “the police will stop impounding cars...this will make the roads safer.” That is dangerous thinking on the part of the decisions makers.
Sadly Cedillo, Chief Beck, the LA City Council, the police commission, and LA Mayor Villaraigosa seem to have their minds made up. At the public meeting the public did have a chance to speak; for 2 minutes. When Mr. Rosenburg was told his time was up and he needed to quit speaking, he responded with anger. On January 18, 2012, on the Jon and Ken show on KFI AM 640, he pointed out that it was odd the rules to the public meeting were more sacred than the fact that the unlicensed drivers are breaking the laws. Chief Beck told the crowd that he could not respond directly to the people about AB 353 since it was not on the agenda for that meeting. Also at the meeting, cops were posted in front of the building, arms locked, to prevent more concerned citizens from entering the meeting. The doors were locked because there were so many people who came out to oppose the bill.
AB 353 is a huge issue. One in my opinion that should concern us all. It is a huge public safety issue to allow unlicensed drivers to be on the road. I do wonder why more media outlets are not reporting this? I also am curious if Cedillo is using this bill as way to get votes for his next political office race (his 2013 run for City Council) at the expense of public safety?
Written by: Melissa Anderson
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