Highland Park Department of Public Safety

Authorization: Chris Vinson, Director of Public Safety

By: Sgt. Lance Koppa, Community Relations/PIO Contact: 214-559-9487 (office), 817-891-2573 (media only)

Date: May 22nd, 2012

News Release

For Immediate Release

Policy to Address Unlicensed Drivers, Invalid Drivers Licenses and Uninsured Drivers Drivers that are unlicensed, uninsured, or those drivers whose license is invalid represent a hazard to themselves and the community at large. Beginning May 25th, Highland Park DPS will enact a policy to better protect motorists from those individuals who fail to comply with drivers license and insurance requirements. This policy has been put in place to promote the safety of the motoring public and reduce the chances that innocent accident victims are affected by drivers who are unlicensed, uninsured, or their driving privilege has been suspended by the state. So many motorists complain about the numbers of uninsured drivers that freely drive the streets and highways, says Sgt. Lance Koppa, We will now take an additional step and impound the car of persons stopped for traffic that cannot produce a valid drivers license or insurance. This policy change extends to those motorists who are operating a vehicle without a drivers license or their privilege to drive has been suspended by the state.

Highland Park DPS will now impound the vehicle of those motorists that fail to meet the drivers license and/or insurance standards that have been established in the state traffic code. Prior to impounding any vehicle Highland Park DPS officers will exhaust options to determine license and insurance status. Once the decision has been made to impound a vehicle, the officer will take reasonable action to protect the vehicle and get the driver and other occupants to a safe location. This isnt a new approach to removing drivers that may present a hazard from the road, said Chris Vinson, Director of Public Safety for the Town of Highland Park. Impounding vehicles from those drivers that do not have a valid license or who are operating an uninsured vehicle has been a practice of some law enforcement agencies in the area for a while. We are at a point where it makes sense for HPDPS to adopt it also.

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