Norfolk defense attorney Gordon Zedd remembers when traffic court was a place where an episode of lousy driving ended with a fine and the offender’s promise to do better next time.
But in Virginia, where a new category of traffic fines imposed this year is hitting the worst drivers hardest, the punishments have stirred some unlikely critics, including Zedd, whose business has increased under the new law.
“People convicted under these laws and who live paycheck to paycheck have to pay and pay and then come back and pay again,” Zedd said, referring to the three-year phased payments for some offenses that can now cost more than $1,000. The issue is one of fairness, he said. “It just has to end.”
Several legislators agree.
When the General Assembly convenes next month, lawmakers may confront one of the most contentious issues in recent years: the massive, $3 billion transportation bill that raised the first new money for roads and rails in two decades.
The bill, signed into law this year, also granted Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, the state’s two largest metropolitan areas, the power to raise several taxes and fees locally to pay for regional projects the state has been unwilling to finance.
“We should not repeal the whole bill, but we need to fix it,” said Del.-elect Joe Bouchard,
D-Virginia Beach, who was elected this fall after veteran Republican Del. Leo Wardrup retired.
Bouchard said there won’t be much appetite for wholesale change when the session starts Jan. 9, but he backs efforts to kill the abusive-driver fees.
“They just won’t work,” he said.
In the past month, at least six bills have been filed to either eliminate the abusive-driver fees and refund fines or amend the law to reduce the number of offenses requiring the harsher penalties.
Each lawmaker has different reasons for seeking a change, but all sense lingering public outrage – and look no further than an Internet petition opposing the fees that collected almost 178,000 signatures over the summer. One signer added: “Burn down Richmond!”
Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, whose bill was one of the first filed, said her concern is that the law imposes the bad-driver fees only on Virginia drivers, not out-of-state offenders.
“What’s fair about that?” Lucas asked.
Leaders from both parties, including Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, have said they want to include out-of-state drivers but stopped short of promising to repeal all the abusive-driver fees.
They note that the bad-driver provisions were backed by organizations that have long sought to stamp out intolerable behavior such as drunken driving. They also have said all the offenses covered by the fees stem from conviction of a crime – not a traffic infraction.
Opponents of the fees found new ammunition on Dec. 5 when the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission gave a mixed assessment of how the fees have affected driver behavior. The number of arrests for drunken driving and speeding increased, while instances of reckless driving dropped, according to the report.
The report also predicted that within three years, as many as 181,000 Virginians could lose their licenses because they could not afford to pay the fines.
The General Assembly also is being asked to make major changes in the package of taxes and fees set to take effect April 1 in Hampton Roads to raise cash for construction projects.
Composed of elected officials from 12 municipalities, the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority was given the power to impose regional fees and taxes to raise about $168 million a year to pay for six major projects, including the long-sought third bridge-tunnel to the Peninsula.
The new taxes and fees will affect the cost of home and car sales; repairs or rentals of vehicles; annual vehicle inspections; and the price of fuel.
The authority approved the taxes and fees last June but, as a gesture to critics, moved the start date from Jan. 1 to April 1 to give the General Assembly a chance to change them.
Among the proposed changes is to abandon an increase in the grantor’s tax on home sales. The new law calls for an increase of 40 cents for every $100 of a home’s sale price. Opponents also want to stop the region’s first-ever tax on vehicle repair labor, as well as higher fees for vehicle registrations and safety inspections.
The authority has determined that it could replace the expected income from those taxes by raising even higher the future increases in taxes on motor fuel and car rentals and raising the initial vehicle registration fee.
Helping lead the effort is John McGlennon , James City County Board chairman, who concedes the task is difficult. “That’s why we have tried to keep this simple,” McGlennon said. “It’s a tough task to get the legislature to open up something it’s already decided. At the same time, I think they see the logic of this.”
Sen. Harry Blevins, R-Chesapeake, who sits on the authority as a nonvoting member, said he will present legislation to amend the fees, but he is not confident of success. If there is an effort to kill the entire transportation plan using his bill, he will withdraw it.
“I don’t think we want to go through another excruciating time like before,” he said. “Now there is something to make some money available and do some things that Hampton Roads needs.”
E. Dana Dickens, president and chief executive officer of the Hampton Roads Partnership, which lobbied for the transportation bill, isn’t expecting the local authority’s tax powers to change.
“Most lawmakers I’ve spoken to are of the opinion they have done what they could and they have to move on to other issues they want to spend time on,” Dickens said.
Sen. Ken Stolle, the Virginia Beach Republican who helped broker the transportation package, said only narrow portions of the transportation bill – such as abusive drivers – could stand revision.
Paul Nardo , spokesman for House Speaker William Howell, a Republican who was chief sponsor of the bill last spring, sounded a similar note.
“It’s a very risky proposition,” Nardo said.
Tom Holden, (757) 446-2331, tom.holden@pilotonline.com
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smart attorney
gordo is right !!!
Look out!
I am writing this while driving at 80MPH down I-64. Yep, I am speeding and not even looking at the road. I can do this because I am a NC driver and the fines are very light. While I do enjoy this freedom from large fines, the problems sems very easy to solve by adding ALL offenders to the group punished. They could have done this by simply increasing the fines for existing laws(der). However, those of you who are saying the poor drivers who break the law may lose their license due to inability to pay fines are funny. It seems cheaper than burying your children. Perhaps the entire point of the fines was to 'deter' the offenders? If it takes revoking their PRIVELEDGE to get them to obey the law isn't that the point? Making the fines and fees affordable to scofflaws really should not be what drives legislation is it?
Don't want to pay the fine...
It's a very simple answer: if you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime. In this case, the crime is speeding (for example) and the time is a big fat ticket. Just obey the law and you don't have to pay the fine. I'm going to lynched for saying this, but I feel it should be expanded to include out of state drivers (I'm not biased: my father's out of state for example).
the real problem
The real problem is not that the fees are too high but the net that's being cast to punish "bad drivers" is too large. If you were to remove Reckless Driving at 20mph above the speed limit and Reckless Driving as a result of a simple traffic accident from the list of violations subject to these fees, I believe that the majority of these sob stories would be eliminated. I don't think anyone in their right mind would disagree with punishing drunk drivers or those without the driving habits to keep from getting a suspended driver's license, but what amounts to a simple speeding ticket or a bumper to bumper accident with no personal injury being subject to thousands of dollars in extra, punitive fees is just ridiculous.
A modest proposal...
Here's an idea...how about we just follow the law. No fines, no fees. Easy.
Thank you republicans
We can thank the then republican majority legislature for the abusive driver fees and more gov't bureaucracy. Kaine could not have signed such laws without republican approval. So much for the myth of lower taxes and smaller gov't speeches by the repubs.
If you've had enough start voting them out.
Of course there are some in control that you can't vote for, which by the way is indeed taxation without representation. The "Hampton Roads Partnership" is one such organization. Their objectives are listed as; A)Standard of living B)Ability to create, attract and retain jobsC)Overall quality of jobs D)Ability to attract and retain people. Their funding is hard to trace but apparently most of it comes from our tax dollars. Much of what goes to them was meant to fund our kids education. I'll leave it to you to figure that out. We have no control of this organization but they seem to control our representatives and money. It's time to make our politicians responsible. It's time to Vote-Em-Out. It's time to stop wasting our taxes and taxing us more for their pleasure.
Comrade Kane's Helping Hand
Never let it be said that Comrade Kane isn't innovative, he can turn a tragedy into a tax faster than anyone on the face of this Earth. He proposed these ludicrous "Bad Drivers' Fees" to fund highways, of course it required another layer of government bureaucracy. Of course, the "flaws" in the system weren't even considered, let alone corrected. Now, with the report on the Virginia Tech shootings out, what has the good Comrade come up with? Oh, who would have thunk it? Another Tax as well as some more gubment, $42 Million over the next 2 years for 92 more civil savants, are they going to be laid off after 2 years? Hum,,, Comrade Kane is solely a socialist who believes that the Proletariat needs more guidance and he's the only one that knows the right way to lead them.
Lawmakers, listen to the people
Our lawmakers in Richmond mostly still are not listening to the people even though they spoke loud and clear on November 6. Only those who had no opposition were re-elected. That will change next time if they continue to turn a deaf ear to the will of the people. The Abusive Driver Fee law must be repealed. The Transportation Authority Law must be repealed. Is that clear enough?
When the General Assembly convenes
Every member who voted for the HRTA, regardless of party affiliation, should pose for a group photo that should be published in every newspaper in Virginia. We should keep those faces in mind when election time rolls around lest we forget in the midst of all the smoke and mirrors that attempts to make us forget about issues like this. Remmeber who they were.
Make it right
Get rid of the HRTA as well. This unlawful tax authority must be abolished.
Abusive fees just bad policy, out-of-state included or not
Using the courts to generate revenue leads to unreasonable laws. For example, keeping the 55 mph speed limit on Interstates where VDOT guidelines support a 70 mph limit is already a revenue measure, not a safety concern.
On many stretches of I64, traffic routinely flows at 20mph above the unrealistic 55 mph limit and every car going by could be subject to the abusive driver fee. Once drivers adjust to this and slow to 74mph to avoid the abusive fee, will the State give up the revenue or just change the law to make it even more unreasonable?
Our State Troopers' jobs are to make travel safer, not collect taxes. Don't pervert their mission.
Kill the entire monstrosity!!
The abusive driver fees are the least of the problems. The non-elected and unaccountable taxing authority is the biggest problem, along with the rest of the tax hikes.