PHOENIX — If you’re being driven somewhere by someone else, you’d better buckle up or you could wind up in jail.
That’s the net effect of legislation approved by a House panel Wednesday that would make it a crime for passengers in motor vehicles to fail to provide identification to police when a vehicle is stopped. HB 2305 would subject violators to up to four months in jail and a $750 fine.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Kathleen Mayer told members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee this isn’t about police interfering with the right of privacy. She said the ID requirement would apply only in situations where the passenger is violating some traffic law.
But Rep. Jesus Rubalcava, D-Gila Bend, pointed out that could be as simple as failing to be belted in. The net effect, he said, is converting what would otherwise be a civil citation into a criminal matter simply because the passenger does not have suitable ID.
It’s even broader than that, said Rep. Richard Andrade, D-Glendale. He said a bicyclist without identification who rolls through a crosswalk also would be subject to criminal sanctions.
Rep. Paul Mosley, R-Lake Havasu City, said he was not comforted by the fact that a police officer would need reasonable suspicion before pulling someone over and getting a chance to question the driver and occupants.
“If I’m driving 10 miles and I’m being followed by a peace officer, law officer, he’s going to find a reason to pull me over,” he said.
And Rep. Noel Campbell, R-Prescott, said the way the measure is worded would create criminals out of children, who don’t normally carry ID, who are unbelted in the back seat of a vehicle.
But both Mosley and Campbell agreed to support the measure to let it go to the full House. Both warned, however, they might vote the other way at that point unless fixes are made.
Mayer told lawmakers there already is such a law on the books. But she said it was ruled unconstitutionally vague in a case where a passenger refused to provide ID, was arrested and a search turned up some drugs.
The changes in HB 2305, she said, fix the wording problems.
