Gov. Tim Kaine signed a law Thursday repealing the hated Virginia abusive-driver fees that inspired a public revolt last summer.
The state will begin sending refunds soon.
Any fees that would have been due in 2009 or 2010 have been waived.
The fees, which levied three-year fines for offenses such as reckless driving, drunken driving and other abuses, triggered lawsuits, failed to collect as much money as anticipated and did not result in a reduction in highway fatalities.
“After six months of implementation, it was clear that the fees did not improve the safety of Virginia highways,” Kaine said.
The General Assembly repealed the fees, which were approved in the 2007 session, by huge majorities this year.
The fees, originally expected to raise $65 million, had raised only 10 percent of that, or $6.5 million, through February, Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey said.
Challengers running for office in the fall hammered the fees on the campaign trail and each party accused the other of mangling the state’s transportation plan.
“These fees were a Washington-style gimmick that wouldn’t have fixed our transportation crisis, failed to make our roads safer, and turned our police officers into tax collectors,” said Brian Moran, D-Alexandria.
Although the fees were still in effect as of Thursday morning, Hickey said few judges were still applying the politically doomed penalties.
“Everybody knew this was going to die, so people weren’t assessing it,” Hickey said.
The outcry was so fierce that more than 177,000 people signed an online repeal petition started last summer by Alexandria resident Bryan Ault.
Residents were alarmed that out-of-state residents would not face the finesand that someone cited for reckless driving could face a whopping ticket.
“When I look at it, I simply see punishments that don’t fit the fines,” Ault said. “They took the safety aspect out of driving enforcement and turned it into revenue collection.”
The opposition resonated with lawmakers, like Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax, who wrote a bill repealing the fees.
“The people spoke and the elected officials of Virginia properly listened,” he said.
