Not only was the driver of a Ford Bronco that fatally struck a 12-year-old girl unlicensed, but San Jose police say she is an illegal immigrant, too, renewing the debate on whether undocumented people should be allowed to apply for driver’s licenses.

The revelation that Adriana Fierro De Marin, 31, was in the country illegally struck yet another cord with the family of Breanna Slaughter-Eck, still reeling from the loss of the Hoover Middle School sixth-grader.

“I’m worried that she just might flee now and walk away from all this,” said Joe Castro, the man who raised Breanna for the last four years. For her part, Breanna’s mother simply wants justice.

Breanna was biking home from Hoover on June 12, on her last day of school, when a Ford Bronco making a left turn slammed into her. The crash is still under investigation and no charges have been filed.

But Breanna’s death and the disclosure by authorities that Fierro de Marin is an undocumented immigrant and unlicensed driver highlights one of the more controversial and lingering topics in the state Capitol.

There have been nine attempts since 1999 to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses. Each of the efforts has failed – opposed by Republicans who say it’s inappropriate to provide state services and benefits to people in the country illegally.

State Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, says safety is more important.

“We have every day, 2 1/2 million people taking the roads who, if given the opportunity, would apply for driver’s licenses,” said Cedillo, whose latest proposal passed the Senate and is back before the Assembly this summer. “We’re endangering the lives of pedestrians and motorists in California every single day.”

Lt. Carl Neusel, an assistant division commander for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, estimates about a third of the unlicensed drivers deputies encounter are undocumented. “It’s a problem,” he said.

More importantly, traffic experts say, the focus should be on all unlicensed drivers, illegal or not, because statistics link such drivers to more high-risk, hazardous behavior.

Statistics show that nationwide one of every five fatal crashes involves drivers without a valid license.

In California, nearly a quarter of all crashes from 2001 to 2005 involved drivers without a license, according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

xxxxx

“Are these people risky? Yes,” said Robert Scopatz, who co-authored studies of unlicensed drivers for the auto club.

Scopatz said unlicensed drivers cut through all demographics and that unlicensed illegal immigrants are only a tiny portion of the problem. Simply put, Scopatz said, unlicensed drivers tend to have more societal issues, among them problems with alcohol or drugs that prevent them from getting a license.

“The biggest risk they pose to society is that their bad attitudes are reflected in their driving,” he said.

In the San Jose area last year, the California Highway Patrol alone issued 3,886 citations to drivers without a license. Statewide, CHP issued 132,042 in 2007.

“Unfortunately, it’s pretty common; we come across it more often than we should,” said Sgt. Trent Cross, spokesman for the Bay Area’s California Highway Patrol division. While having a license doesn’t guarantee safety, it helps, Cross said.

“It shows that you went to the DMV and passed the test and it shows you have a basic understanding of how to operate a motor vehicle.”

Driving without a license in California is a misdemeanor, but the penalties could be greater if it involves an injury or fatality. The decision whether to file criminal charges against Fierro De Marin will be made by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

xxxx

Local authorities aren’t responsible for enforcing immigration laws, and police in many cities, including San Jose, have standing policies that limit officers from notifying immigration authorities about a suspect’s status unless felony charges are involved.

However, before a suspect is booked into jail, they are asked a series of questions – whether they are U.S. citizens, their place of birth and their immigration status. The answers can alert federal agents whether the inmate is in the country illegally.

In Fierro De Marin’s case, police initially arrested her on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter and misdemeanor driving without a license, but released her to spend more time developing the case, said San Jose police spokesman Enrique Garcia.

Since felony accusations were involved, police alerted immigration officials about her status, Garcia said.

Efforts to reach Fierro De Marin on Thursday were unsuccessful, but last week she told the Mercury News she was driving to pick up her own daughter from the same school when the crash happened. “I feel so bad. I’m so, so sorry,” said Fierro De Marin, whose family moved here from Mexico 20 years ago. “It’s as if it happened to me.”

Meanwhile, Cedillo said Breanna’s death should serve as a reminder that many undocumented immigrants are driving California’s streets and highways without proper training.

Once again, Republicans oppose Cedillo’s bill, SB 60.

“There are arguably good reasons why we want to know who is here – and identification is not a bad idea – but what we do is we send a wrong message to law-abiding Californians that we have to follow the law but everyone else doesn’t,” said Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Monrovia. “That’s the fundamental problem.”