Virginia motorists running afoul of the commonwealth’s driving laws will pay heftier penalties as part of the funding plan General Assembly Republicans unveiled last week.
The GOP pact estimates the state can bring in an additional $108 million a year for transportation from fees collected from bad drivers.
Under the plan, starting in July, anyone convicted of driving with a suspended or revoked license will pay an additional $250 a year for the next three years following conviction. Reckless or aggressive driving will bring three annual $350 payments, a drunken driving conviction would bring a set of three $750 payments, and a conviction on any motor-vehicle felony offense will carry $1,000 payments for three years.
Del. David B. Albo, R-Springfield, said drivers would pay their fees when registering their vehicles. “If you are not a bad driver, you don’t have anything to worry about,” he said.
Drivers with several speeding violations or other tickets on their records would get a bill from the state in the mail in July as part of the GOP package. Any driver with at least eight demerit points on his or her record would be assessed a $100 fee plus a $75 charge forevery demerit point above eight on the record. An individual driver would not have to pay more than $700, however.
Drivers would pay the fees each year until their records improve.
The Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles assesses six, four or three demerit points on a driver’s record based on the severity of an offense, but does award five positive points if a motorist takes a driving-improvement course. Six-point violations include reckless driving and passing a stopped school bus. The six-point violations stay on the driver’s record for 11 years. Four-point violations, which stay on records for five years, include speeding 10 to 14 mph above the speed limit and following too closely. The three-point violations, which stay on records for three years, include making an improper U-turn, speeding up to 9 mph over the limit and driving over a fire hose.
