A Dallas City Hall showdown comes Wednesday over uninsured drivers. Right now, Dallas only tows uninsured cars that have been involved in wrecks.
A proposed policy would have police seize and tow all uninsured vehicles they find in routine traffic stops. Officers would be allowed to used their discretion to allow some people to keep driving with only citations for lack of insurance, perhaps parents with children. Several other North Texas cities already have this policy. Dallas resisted it before for fear the police impound lot could not handle so many vehicles. The latest plan is to spend millions of dollars to improve the police impound lot and hire more staff so tens of thousands more uninsured vehicles could be seized. Supporters say the plan would pay for itself with impound fees.
Dallas Councilman Mitchell Rasansky has led the call for towing uninsured vehicles for years. Councilman Steve Salazar leads the opposition, saying valuable police time would be wasted waiting around for tow trucks.
What do you think?? You can sound off here on my blog or at the Dallas City Council meeting Wednesday. I’m told a large crowd of people has signed up to speak.
UPDATE: The Dallas City Council passed the uninsured driver towing plan Wednesday, the vote was 10-5.
May 28, 2008 at 7:02 am
This is a good idea and should be expended across the country. Why should people who comply with the law have a problem when hit by some clown who drives without insurance. The people who drive without insurance cause all others to pay higher insurance fees.