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Group, insurance supports new DMV program

About 45,000 people in country illegally remain unlicensed in Colo.

DENVER – The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles is chipping away at the estimated 45,000 people in the country illegally who are now eligible for a state-issued driver’s license. It’s been almost a month since the state began issuing driver’s permits to them, and members of the state’s insurance industry say these immigrants aren’t the only people to benefit. Angela Thorpe, public relations and company spokeswoman with State Farm Insurance, says the education and testing process is valuable to everyone on the road.

Ensuring that all drivers have access to auto insurance is going to help control costs, and licensed drivers have greater awareness of the rules of the road, Thorpe says.

The availability of licenses to people in the country illegally who are in Colorado comes as a result of the Colorado Road and Community Safety Act, signed into law this year. According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, the DMV offices processing these driver’s licenses have the capacity of 155 appointments a day statewide. Only five of the DMV offices in the state are accepting applications.

The League of Women Voters of Colorado supports the availability of the permits but is concerned about the scarcity of locations that offer testing. At 155 appointments a day statewide, Bobbie Heisterkamp, president of the League in Colorado, is concerned about the amount of time it will take to make sure all these drivers are properly trained.

“There are too few places where they can make appointments and actually carry through,” Heisterkamp says. “It’s like a big bottleneck. How are they possibly going to get through 45,000 people?”

Thorpe says the license program isn’t just a benefit for the people obtaining the permits.

“It’s in everyone’s best interest for drivers to be trained, tested and insured,” she says. “Not only creating safer roads, but also helping control the costs.”

The state-issued license to a person in the country illegally will bear a slightly different banner than the standard Colorado driver’s license. Those who hold these license will not be able to use them as valid federal identification, for voting or state benefits.



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