Virginians question bad driving penalties

The Virginia General Assembly may have to address the issue of punitive and recurring bad-driving fees, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine acknowledged after callers on a radio show recently pressed him about why out-of-state drivers are exempt.

“That was kind-of the format of the bill when it reached me and I didn’t change that feature,” Kaine said in response to a question about the out-of-state exemption. “I think that’s something the legislature may address in the future.”

The “abusive driver” measures went into effect July 1. They impose “civil remedial fees” paid in three annual installments that could top $1,000 for such offenses as driving under the influence of alcohol or reckless driving. The fees are in addition to steep existing fines and, in some cases, jail time and drivers license suspensions.

Passed by the General Assembly, they are intended to make the worst drivers pay a greater share of the costs of new highways needed statewide.

They were enacted as fees, not fines, so that the revenue could be applied exclusively to road construction. They will be collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles as a condition for renewing Virginia automobile registrations or licenses. That’s why the fee can only be collected from Virginia residents.

The fees also are imposed on people who, through too many speeding tickets or lesser traffic violations, accumulate eight or more demerit points on their driving records beginning July 1. Those fees are $100 a year for as long as there are eight or more demerit points, plus $75 for each demerit beyond eight.

Kaine said he saw the exclusion but signed the bill anyway. “[T]here were options on the table for financing a system that would have applied to out-of-staters like a gas tax and things like that. The public overwhelmingly didn’t want that, the legislature didn’t want it, so this was one of a number of items we put on the table to raise funds,” he said.

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Topics Personal Auto Virginia