Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Texas

right to travel

There are many U.S. court cases that confirm that American citizens have an unrestricted ''right to travel'' in their personal automobiles. Please see the site below.

http://www.ptialaska.net/~swampy/interest/travel_2.html

1. Do we indeed have a right to drive without having to take a license, register our autos every year, buy insurance, etc.

2. Assuming this right to travel is true, how do we regain this lost constitutional right?

3. Are there any constitutional attorneys out there willing to defend someone that refuses to take a drivers' license and submit to the other restrictions?

I would like to regain this freedom that has been turned into a privilege.

Thank You.


Asked on 7/19/02, 8:56 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: right to travel

The right to travel is not the same as a "right" to drive a car. You are indeed free to travel about the country -- as a passenger in someone else's vehicle, via common carrier (as a passenger on a bus, train or plane), on horseback or on foot if you like. States have a perfectly legitimate right to insist that people prove they can drive safely and know the rules of the road before being allowed to drive, and have similarly strong interests in making sure drivers have adequate insurance to compensate those who might be injured in accidents.

Driving a car is a privilege which is easy enough to attain under the current licensing system. If you ave been unable to obtain a license, it is likely because you have failed your driving test and thus should not be operating a car. You have no more "right" to drive a car without a license than you do to fly a plane without one.

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Answered on 7/19/02, 1:13 pm


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