By Warren Fiske
The Virginian-Pilot
RICHMOND
Virginia's stiff fees against bad drivers were upheld Monday by a Henrico Circuit judge, overturning a decision by a lower court.
The decision does not settle the legal and political whirlwinds created by the new law, which began July 1, imposing penalties ranging from $750 to $3,000 for major infractions, but only for Virginia drivers and not for out-of-state motorists.
Esther J. Windmueller, the attorney combating the law, vowed to continue the fight, although she stopped short of promising an appeal of the specific case ruled on Monday, saying she had not yet consulted her client.
Several legislators voiced hope for an appeal and an expedited ruling from the state Supreme Court to settle questions about whether the fees can continue to be assessed against Virginia drivers.
The legislators also are pledging to resolve complaints about the fairness of the law by passing legislation next year that would apply the penalties to out-of-state drivers.
The law seems likely to become a major issue this fall when all 140 seats in the General Assembly are up for election.
"For a law to be enforced, there has to be equity," said state Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.
The ruling Monday by Henrico Circuit Judge L.A. Harris, however, suggested that collecting the fees from out-of-state motorists may be difficult.
The fees were contested by Anthony Price, a Richmond carpet installer who has been charged five times for driving on a suspended license. A Henrico General District Court judge ruled earlier this month that Price is not required to pay the $750 penalty imposed by the new state law.
He said that the separate treatment of Virginia and non-Virginia drivers violates equal protection clauses.
Harris, in the ruling, disagreed, saying the General Assembly had a "rational basis" for restricting the fees to Virginia drivers. Lawmakers approved the penalties earlier this year to raise about $65 million a year for highway maintenance.
Harris said it is logical to seek revenues from Virginia drivers "who make up a greater percentage of dangerous drivers than do non residents, since Virginians make up the greater percentage of drivers on Virginia's highways."
Noting the difficulties that Virginia officials may encounter in collecting the fees outside the commonwealth, Harris said that possibly "the cost of collecting on a judgment outweighs any benefit with respect to out-of-state motorists."
Virginia has agreements "reciprocity compacts" with many other states in which they agree to enforce each other's traffic fines and penalty points.
Because the legislature's stated purpose of bad-driver penalties is to "generate revenues," Harris said they must be considered fees, not driving fines.
The reciprocity compacts Virginia has with other states do not apply to "civil remedial fees," he said.
The compacts also require that participating states have fines that are "substantially similar in nature," Harris noted. Only four other states Michigan, Texas, New York and New Jersey have bad-driver fees.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine made similar arguments this spring when he sent a successful amendment to the legislature exempting out-of-state motorists from the new fees.
Kaine has since promised to work with top Republican legislators, including House Speaker William Howell and Senate Majority Leader Walter Stosch, who want to change the law during the 2008 General Assembly session to include out-of-state drivers.
Kaine will support applying the fees to out-of-state violators, "if there is an enforceable way to do that," said Kevin Hall, the governor's press secretary.
Warren Fiske, (804) 697-1565,
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I agree with the fines, but
The law needs to be tweeked with a better understanding for all and by all means include everyone including out of state drivers. The bad drivers know wo they are are, for the most part they drive expensive SUV's and Ford trucks that take up 2 parking spaces. They are also the same ones with a cell phone to their ear as they speed down the highway passing everyone in sight.
Idea
Look folks, we all must ban together. The government exists to serve the people. Government is meant to serve as the glue to hold a community together, not rule over all of us. All elected officials and those who work for the government, be it federal, state or your local home town, work for us, the people. We must let our elected officials know who is in charge...and that is you and I...the people. Let's clean house...vote-out these politicians that camp-out in Richmond and our home towns and vote-in some new blood. Our Founding Fathers wanted a revolving door for our elected officials. Let's keep that door turning.
The got it backwards
Out of state college students pay higher tuition than in-state students. You would think the same logic would be applied to the traffic fees.
Yes, The Henrico District Court is a joke!
What did we expect from a judge that was appointed by the politicians House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, and Senate Majority Leader Walter A. Stosch, R-Henrico? You realize Judge Harris knew that if he ruled the fees unconstitutional that Senator Stosch would have his head and Harris is not about to give up his cushy high paid bench job. Harris said that laws don't have to be fair or pc to be legal. That's how he thinks. Stosch, Howell and the rest of the Republicans must be removed next election than we need to find a way to rid ourselves of these judges. We need to hold all of them accountable.
Now hear this.......
First off, to the ignorant people stating that only bad drivers are complaining..you are soo wrong. I have been driving for 20 some odds years and have had (1) ticket for a minor driving infraction, so for you to say only bad drivers are complaining you are wrong. I hope I am sitting there when you get a fat fine for not using a turn indicator when you are the only vehicle around within miles. The fact of the matter is...we are being penalized for living in this state, we are paying for and paving the roads for the many tourist who often come to our state, disrespect our homes, our laws, and leave the locals with a mess to clean up! Where did we lose our rights?
republican backlash
We have the civil penalties and the regional transportation authorities in Norva and Hampton Roads because the republican majority had to find a way to fund transportation improvements without calling for a tax increase. They are victims of their own false rhetoric. They blamed past legislators and VDOT, but in fact, it has been their own "No Car Tax" bumper stickers and their own Legislators claiming that you can't trust us to spend your money wisely that have created this admitted mess. Fact is, if these same Legislators had simply increased the motor vehicle fuels tax to the average of the states that surround us, and had done it gradually over time and not let the infrastructure decay, they would have had a permanent majority.
Driver fees...
Since the law only applys to residents of Virginia, if an illegal alien from Mexico gets drunk, crashes into another car and kills a couple of people, will the abusive driver fee apply to him?
Don't like the fee......
Then don't drive like an idiot. Simple right? What could be more of a joke than taking a fool that is obviously an abusive driver as the test case. How can anyone, even a judge, think he should be allowed on the road. Only the people that are abusive drives seem to whine about the fees. And the lawyers as well. Why don't they whine about the transportation authority. Taxation without representation. Now there's a constitutional issue.
A compounded issue
Unfortunately it does not take much to have a license suspended. With laws prohibiting peopel to register their vehicle or renew tags based on the ability to afford personal property taxes, puts alot of drivers in jeopardy of having their license suspended.This is just one example, and it all boils down to money. Whether you have a minor traffic violation wreckless driving, all the way up to a DIU, if you have the money to pay the fines, then your priviledge to drive is often protected. In my opinion , assessing more fines and penalties on top of fines and penalties will definately effect the ability of alot of peopel being able to go to work and make a decent living in order to pay off their debts.
Time to Move
It is time to move from this state. No longer does this state stand up for the citizens, it wants to drain them dry until there is no more to give. I myself, will move as soon as my husband retires in 2 years to somewhere, where there are no greedy council membersor city officals looking to spend the few dollars left in my pocket every year after being taxed to death to appease their thirst of spending for unneccessary things this state does not want or need! No longer does my paycheck cover my living expenses, it covers the frills of city government spending and all the programs for people that apply for assistance and are saving more than me out of my own tax dollars..go figure! Drug test the ones on assistance and boot out the greedy!
Fines
I dont think this matter has so much to do with how much its going to cost, or how bad our drivers our- except that you are only going to fine the drivers that live in Virginia, and someone from another state can drive through our state doing 20 mph over the limit, and they arent going to get the fine that the VA resident is going to get. Thats not fair! And the residents of VA should have a fit that we arent going to collect the money from all people, only the ones that live in the state. What if I came through your town and did a crime, and I didnt have to pay the $$ that you would have to just because you live there- thats crazy! and extremely unfair!
Leadership?
Want better leadership? then vote! It's too late to gripe about these fees/taxes. Your elected officials have no reason to change their mind now. Make sure to remember your frustration on election day.
Civil Abuser Fees
Upholding the civil abuser fees should be good news for the real estate market in North Carolina.
What's wrong with these fees?
These fees are for the people that continue to ignore the laws like the guy getting stopped 5 times without a valid drivers license. I would think that this is just what you would want in order to make the highways safer. This new fee that is being accessed on (hard headed) bad drivers may cause some bad drivers to wake up and start obeying the laws. Remember that if you obey the laws it does not cost a penny.
We Need This!!!
All it would take is for some of these people who oppose this measure is to commute to work everyday as I do and see the foolishness on our roads, I think the tune would change. This is already working by hitting the serious violators in the wallet hard, because the loosing of a privilege did not work, and we have the perfect example in this news article.
Re-election
If kaine could run for re-election, You can bet he would not support this. He does not have to worry. Get ready to vote.
original intent
That's not what the republican majority legislature passed, which the likely future gubernatorial candidate AG Bob McD says applying abusive driver fees to only Virginia drivers is ok. The republicans' greed for higher taxes is backfiring on them.
Henrico General District Court is a joke.
If the same judge is there that was there about five years ago. He treated the court as thought he was a comedian and the court was his audience. He called one of the people that had gotten a ticket "spaghetti head". That's just one of many examples of his antics on the bench. I lost all respect for that court that day because of his behavior on the bench. I guess at this point Henrico General District Court is right up there with VA general assembly as far as jokes go. Vote Em Out the next election cycle. Vote Em Out and invoke Term Limits on all elected and appointed public seats.
Good
You do the crime...you do the time. Five times suspended license? And a judge agreed that he shouldn't be punished? Kudos to the higher court for ruling the fees are constitutional. Maybe next time they will think before getting behind the wheel on a suspended license. While I'm on the subject of fees: Let's slap tolls onto the HRBT to pay for its expansion. How about raising bus fare to pay for expanding the system? I'd support both of these in a heartbeat. I used to live by Ocean View Station but no more because of the traffic spilling onto the Cottage Toll Road (Tidewater Dr to you newcomers). I wonder why it was called Cottage *Toll* Road? Bring the tolls back!
Are you listening to us?
We, the people, have shown that we do not support these taxes disgusied as fee's. Keep on voting to impose them on us and you soon feel the door heading you on the backside when we vote you out. Listen to us, please....thats why we put you in Richmond. You work for us, at our pleasure. Raise the fuel tax, make all road users pay their equal share. Those who drive the most will pay the most while those who find alternative means to conduct business and use less fuel pay a smaller share, as it should be.