That’s the only way I can describe the new set of administrative fees that will be charged to people Virginia citizens who violate traffic laws in the Virginia
Attention Virginians: The cost of bad driving is about to go up. Way up.
Say you are driving 78 mph on the Capital Beltway and a state trooper tickets you for “reckless driving — speeding 20 mph over.” You will probably be fined $200 by the judge. But then you will receive a new, additional $1,050 fine from the Old Dominion, payable in three convenient installments. So convenient that you must pay the first one immediately, at the courthouse.
First-time drunk driver? A $300 fine from the judge and a $2,250 fee from the commonwealth.
Driving without a license? Maybe a $75 fine. Definitely a $900 fee from Virginia.
As part of the plan to fund the annual $1 billion transportation package approved this year, state legislators endorsed a new set of “civil remedial fees” for all misdemeanor and felony traffic violations, such as speeding 20 mph above the limit, reckless driving and, in some cases, driving with faulty brakes. Drivers with points on their licenses — a speeding ticket usually earns four points — will be hit for $75 for every point above eight and $100 for having that many points in the first place.
The new fees will go into effect July 1, and defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges expect chaos. Court clerks fear having to deal with angry hordes learning about the fees for the first time at the payment window.
Much like cigarette taxes that raise funds for the government on the hope that people will buy more cigarettes, these fines having nothing to do with encouraging better driving behavior, and everything to do with raising revenue for the Commonwealth of Virginia:
Albo and Del. Thomas D. Rust (R-Fairfax), who co-sponsored the fee legislation, project that $65 million to $120 million will be raised annually to cover costs of snow removal, pothole repair and grass-mowing. Money for Northern Virginia’s congested roads had to come from somewhere, they reasoned, and new taxes were not going to fly in the GOP-controlled House of Delegates.
Because, of course, it’s not a tax if you call it a fee.
But here’s why I call this the attorney full employment law. For a Virginia citizen, a traffic ticket is now a much more serious offense. In addition to a fine to the county and increased insurance rates, drivers now face the possibility of “registration fees” so large that they might not be able to renew their license to drive. More cases will be contested and more people will hire attorneys for something they might have otherwise just plead guilty.
As an attorney who handles the occasional traffic case, this will probably benefit me in some way. But it’s still a bad law and a bad way to raise revenue.
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