Driving Privilege

Michael J. Ryerson’s comments on sobriety roadblocks (Letters, May 19) continues the single-faceted stance on lack of probable cause, unreasonable search, deprivation of liberty and later use of evidence so obtained against a person.

No one has any law-given right to operate a motor vehicle on a public highway, but enjoys a revocable permission to do so if able to qualify. Liberty is one of our inalienable rights and it becomes a moot issue when another deprives you of your very right to life, in some messy encounter on a highway. That is why driving requires enforcement and judicial control.

I would recommend that the license of any driver who fails or refuses to submit to a sobriety test be automatically rendered void. Yes, it would be back to square one in order to obtain a new license. The same for the registration of a vehicle, if proof of financial responsibility cannot be produced. Certainly, in this age of computerization, we should be able to defeat the ploy of dropping insurance once a vehicle is registered.

All of us who venture upon the highways need the protection of law enforcement and how much we accomplish toward its effectiveness is the true barometer of how much we value life and limb.

THOMAS J. SULLIVAN

Pasadena