Section 14607.4 Of Chapter 4. Violation Of License Provisions From California Vehicle Code >> Division 6. >> Chapter 4.
14607.4
. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Driving a motor vehicle on the public streets and highways is
a privilege, not a right.
(b) Of all drivers involved in fatal accidents, more than 20
percent are not licensed to drive. A driver with a suspended license
is four times as likely to be involved in a fatal accident as a
properly licensed driver.
(c) At any given time, it is estimated by the Department of Motor
Vehicles that of some 20 million driver's licenses issued to
Californians, 720,000 are suspended or revoked. Furthermore,
1,000,000 persons are estimated to be driving without ever having
been licensed at all.
(d) Over 4,000 persons are killed in traffic accidents in
California annually, and another 330,000 persons suffer injuries.
(e) Californians who comply with the law are frequently victims of
traffic accidents caused by unlicensed drivers. These innocent
victims suffer considerable pain and property loss at the hands of
people who flaunt the law. The Department of Motor Vehicles estimates
that 75 percent of all drivers whose driving privilege has been
withdrawn continue to drive regardless of the law.
(f) It is necessary and appropriate to take additional steps to
prevent unlicensed drivers from driving, including the civil
forfeiture of vehicles used by unlicensed drivers. The state has a
critical interest in enforcing its traffic laws and in keeping
unlicensed drivers from illegally driving. Seizing the vehicles used
by unlicensed drivers serves a significant governmental and public
interest, namely the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of
Californians from the harm of unlicensed drivers, who are involved
in a disproportionate number of traffic incidents, and the avoidance
of the associated destruction and damage to lives and property.
(g) The Safe Streets Act of 1994 is consistent with the due
process requirements of the United States Constitution and the
holding of the Supreme Court of the United States in Calero-Toledo v.
Pearson Yacht Leasing Co., 40 L. Ed. 2d 452.