Truants Can Lose Driving Privileges

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico signed into law HB106 which specifies that students who are habitually truant can have their driving privileges suspended. Students are considered habitual truants if they have 10 or more unexcused absences in a school year. A 90-day suspension of privileges is specified for the first infraction and potentially a year for subsequent infractions. The law has an effective date of May 19.

My take on this is simple. It sounds great, but it probably will never be effectively implemented. As I see it, four different government bureaucracies will have to concur before any student loses his driving privileges. The public school system will identify and report the truant to the juvenile probation authorities who must present the case to the children's court system for docketing and imposition of sanctions which must be relayed to the motor vehicle department for action. Since each of these bureaucracies can be expected to exhibit typical sloth-like government efficiency and, since each is prone to political hypersensitivity, it would not be unreasonable to imagine someone losing driving privileges long after graduating from school. Think about it. When was the last time anyone got two, much less four, government bureaucracies to work together to accomplish anything in a timely manner?

Simply, it's a great idea, but it won't work.