If all the Iowans who’ve lost their driver's licenses lived in one
place, that place would be bigger than the city of Des Moines.
About
226,400 Iowans currently have a revoked or suspended driver’s license,
the Iowa Department of Transportation says. That’s roughly 10 percent of
all the licensed drivers in the state.
It’s a safe bet that
thousands of those motorists break the law and drive every day, without
incident. Too often, however, tragedy occurs.
Two fatal accidents
involving drivers who police say shouldn't have been behind the
wheelshook Des Moines last summer. In June, 6-year-old Irving
Aguilar-Gonzalez was playing on a trampoline in his backyard when he was
hit by a runaway truck. The accused driver, Guadalupe Villa-Guzman, had
lost his license after a seizure caused him to crash the truck in 2012.
In
August, police say a drunken driver plowed into a crowd of cyclists on
the Urban Assault Ride, killing Wade Franck, a cycling advocate and
sales manager at Kyle’s Bikes in Ankeny. The driver who was charged in
the death, JonathanLeyva, was previously charged with operating while
intoxicated and was barred from holding a driver’s license until at
least 2017. He'd beencaught driving twice while barred.
How do we
keep dangerous drivers from getting behind the wheel? The Des
MoinesRegister will explore that topic Tuesday, Oct. 27, in a forum, “Driving While Barred.”
Driving While Barred forum
How
can Iowa keep people with multiple OWIs or other unsafe drivers from
getting behind the wheel again? A panel of experts will look at
solutions.
When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27
Where: Des Moines Register community room, 400 Locust St.
Space is limited, so please RSVP at DesMoinesRegister.com/BarredDrivers
Panelists:
Frank
Harris, director of state government affairs, MADD;Mark D. Lowe,
director, Motor Vehicle Division, IowaDepartment of
Transportation;Bill Mickelson, a South Dakota law enforcement
consultant;Bob Rehkemper, local defense attorney;State Rep.Sandy
Salmon, R-Janesville;Allan Tunks, Des Moines assistant police chief
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