Many of the infractions that trigger a license suspension revolve around unpaid bills. Create a big enough carrot - in this case a driver’s license - and people will pay. So goes the thinking.
But try getting a job to pay those bills without a license, say opponents.
A survey by Rutgers University found that 42 percent of respondents lost their jobs after losing their driver's license. Of those, 45 percent were unable to land a new job. For those that did, 88 percent took a drop in pay.
"Even if you don't need to drive to get to work, driver's licenses are being used by employers as a screening method for employment," says Yunk Todd, a founding director of the Center for Driver's License Recovery and Employability.