May 27, 2002 The drive to comply

Law links driver's license to registration with Selective Service BY TYLER WHITLEY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Kirk Cox wants you!
Because so many young men are not registering with Selective Service, the Republican delegate from Colonial Heights sponsored a bill that uses the desire to drive as leverage.
The measure, which easily cleared the General Assembly and takes effect July 1, requires every male from 18 to 25 who applies for, or renews, a driver's license to register with the Selective Service System.
It is one of several driving-related bills passed by the assembly this year that touch people's security, whether personal or physical.



Cox, a high school teacher, said he introduced the measure because about 24 percent of the eligible age group in Virginia is not complying with the federal requirement to register. Nationally, the percentage is closer to 30 percent.
Retired Brig. Gen. Manuel R. Flores, the director of the Selective Service System in Virginia, is a constituent and brought the lack of compliance to his attention, Cox said.
"If we could get 98 percent compliance, we would have a fairer pool of people to select from," Cox said.
In peacetime, Flores' position is a part-time one, and he is paid for a 13-hour week. He is helped by members of the National Guard and armed forces reservists.
President Nixon abolished the draft after the Vietnam War.
President Carter reinstated the Selective Service System in 1980, asking that both men and women be eligible. Congress balked, and only men are eligible.
Micki Graham, operations manager for the Southeast region of the Selective Service System in Atlanta, said 303,450 young men in Virginia are eligible to be drafted if the nation goes to war. A total of 43,862 registered last year.
First to be drafted would be 20-year-olds. Next would come those 21 through 25, then 19-year-olds and, lastly, 18-year-olds, Graham said.
Graham said most people register at http://www.sss.gov/ on the Internet. They also can register at post offices, long the traditional venue, and with volunteers, usually teachers, at high schools.
A student applying for a student loan is automatically registered, as will be done through the Department of Motor Vehicles. When a person applies for a driver's license, DMV will pass the information to Selective Service. When 16- or 17-year-olds receive their first license, DMV will register them when they turn 18.
Young men who fail to register can receive a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison. However, Graham said, Selective Service does not pursue those who fail to register.
The agency believes that most who do not are unaware of the requirement, or they feel that signing up will enlist them in the military, she said.
The legislature also took steps to enhance personal security. To guard against identity theft, Del. Kathy J. Byron, R-Lynchburg, introduced legislation to require DMV to assign all customers a system-generated customer number, rather than Social Security number, on driver's licenses.
Byron said the DMV-generated number cannot be traced to the customer or used for credit purposes. Currently, DMV will assign a customer number if someone asks for it. The bill requires the agency to display the Social Security number only if the customer asks for it.
Other measures that take effect July 1 will:

Create a presumption that a driver has been drinking and driving if an open, partially empty container of alcohol is located anywhere in the passenger area of a vehicle and the driver exhibits other signs of alcohol consumption. The law applies to cups or glasses as well as bottles and cans. A drinking and driving violation is punishable by a fine of up to $250.

Extend by a year, to 5, the maximum age at which a child must be secured in a child-safety or booster seat. Violations will result in a $50 fine.
Create a category of aggressive driving, the penalty for which is less severe than reckless driving but stiffer than a traffic infraction. Aimed at controlling road rage, the measure targets such behavior as following too closely or failing to observe traffic lanes with the intention of harassing or intimidating another driver. A simple charge of aggressive driving can be punishable with a sentence of six months in jail or a $1,000 fine. Aggressive driving with the intent to injure another can result in a sentence of up to 12 months in jail or a fine of $2,500.

Give DMV the authority not to renew the registration on vehicles owned by individuals who have not paid their decal fee or personal property tax.
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or mailto:twhitley@timesdispatch.com