Study Suggests that Licensing Unauthorized Immigrants Improves Traffic Safety

Researchers at Stanford University recently published a study showing that a 2013 California law allowing unauthorized immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses led to a significant reduction in hit and run accidents and did not increase the rate of traffic accidents and fatalities. The study’s authors said this latter finding “suggests there is no empirical support for the claim that unauthorized immigrants are less cautious drivers or generally more likely to cause accidents.” Instead, the findings suggest that “providing driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants led to improved traffic safety” and to “significant positive externalities for the communities in which they live.” What significance might this finding have for policymakers in North Carolina? North Carolina law. North Carolina’s current driver’s license rule for unauthorized immigrants is easy to explain: Unauthorized immigrants are not eligible to obtain a North Carolina driver’s license, learner’s permit, or identification card. That was not the case before 2006. In fact, in the early 2000s, North Carolina had a widespread reputation for being a state in which a person could easily obtain a driver’s license, regardless of whether the person was an authorized immigrant or whether the person even lived in the state. The licensing system was substantially amended following the U.S. Congress’s enactment of the REAL ID Act of 2005. That act was a response to the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that the federal government set standards for the issuance of identification documents such as driver’s licenses. North Carolina legislation enacted in 2006 requires that an applicant for a North Carolina driver’s [...]