Much of the outrage over Virginia’s new bad driver fees focus on the much higher financial penalties that await drivers caught violating the commonwealth’s traffic laws, as well as the fact that they apply only to in-state residents. The implication is that if the new fees were more reasonable and applied equally to out-of-state drivers, they’d be OK.
But there are several fundamental reasons why the new “civil remedial fees” that went into effect July 1 are bad public policy.
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The fees are an ugly hybrid in which bad drivers are assessed steep civil penalties — ranging from $750 to $3,000 — for the same traffic offenses that are already punishable by criminal fines and jail. While there’s no defending drivers who commit serious traffic offenses, making miscreants pay twice for the same offense is a form of double jeopardy. Holding their drivers licenses hostage until they pay the fine — no matter what their financial circumstances — is equally ill-advised.
Unlike stand-alone legislation specifically designed to eradicate drunken and reckless driving, the provision that significantly raises bad driver fees was part of a large revenue-raising package passed this year by the General Assembly and signed by the governor. As such, the commonwealth now has a $65 million vested interest in permitting such dangerous behavior to continue, which puts it at odds with its own law enforcement responsibilities.
Drivers with repeated felonies such as DUIs may deserve to have the penalty book thrown at them, but the new law severely punishes lesser misdemeanors with an extra $900 fee that targets virtually every licensed driver in the state. And these draconian fees can’t be waived or reduced in court.
The growing chorus of objections prompted a rare joint news conference by Gov. Tim Kaine, whose amendment limited the fees to Virginia residents, and Republican leaders in the General Assembly, who made the bad driver fees a centerpiece of their $3 billion transportation bill. They all tried to reassure Virginians that, as Howell put it, “There is no such thing as a $3,000 speeding ticket.” But even they admitted that the rules may have to be changed — less than a month after the new law went into effect.
Tweaking the bill’s language will not be enough for critics like Front Royal’s town attorney, who has already challenged its constitutionality. The town is now considering a measure to block enforcement of these excessive multiyear fines, while more than 150,000 Virginianshave signed an online petition calling for their repeal.
The sooner, the better.
