Opinion: While driving — be afraid, be very afraid

Placer County District Attorney Morgan Gire told National Public Radio (NPR), “It is somewhat shocking to see how much you can get away with and still be a licensed driver in the state of California. I don’t think anyone fully understands what you need to do behind the wheel to lose your driving privilege,” according to Robert Lewis, writing for Cal Matters.

As I read the recent paper, “License to Kill,” issued by Cal Matters, my stomach knotted, and I felt uneasy about the drive I would soon have to make to Fresno to see one of my physicians. All of the data that you are about to read was gathered by Cal Matters during an investigation of the Department of Motor Vehicles for the period between 2019 and 2024. The stories are unnerving, to say the least, and are probably a good cause for agoraphobia, the illness that makes it nearly impossible for people to leave their homes.

Case studies

According to records compiled by Cal Matters, a man was convicted of reckless driving in the state of Washington in 2013. He had been dumping heroin out his window while attempting to flee police. He was apprehended, but he was freed.