One key financing provision of the Transportation Abomination will increase fees for “abusive drivers.” Gov. Timothy M. Kaine amended the law to eliminate the worst aspect of the original bill: language that would have applied the hefty new fees ex post facto, penalizing drivers for offenses incurred before the law goes into effect.
I once supported the abusive driver bill — not for the money it would raise but for the deterrent effect it would have on drivers who, on the best of days, interrupts the smooth flow of traffic with their reckless speeds and lane weaving, and, on bad days, cause wrecks and traffic back-ups for miles. I have no sympathy for these jerks whatsoever.
Then reality set in. I don’t know the history of how traffic fines were set in the past, but I suspect that they were born of experience, striking a balance between a variety of factors. In their lust for road-building funds, legislators have forgotten what those factors might be. There will be two predictable results from this law:
First, drivers will have a much greater incentive to contest traffic tickets. Those who can afford lawyers will be more likely to hire them. Traffic courts will get more crowded, and police will spend more time testifying. Next thing you know, there will be an outcry for more judges, more courtrooms and more police. Has anyone calculated what this will cost? The answer is no.
Second, drivers who can’t afford lawyers will get ground down by the system. I chatted recently with an attorney who has handled a number of traffic-court cases, and he described how, under the current, relatively lenient regime, many poor people can’t afford to pay the fines. Then they get fined for failing to pay the earlier fines. Then they get thrown in jail. The attorney spoke passionately about one client, a poor man who worked hard to provide for his wife and children. The client is now serving time in jail, not contributing to society in any way.
I don’t know how many people there are like that — maybe dozens. But they certainly will number in the hundreds, if not thousands, when traffic fines treble or quadruple. How much will it cost to put those people in jail? How much will the state lose in wages unearned and taxes not paid? Has anyone calculated what this will cost the state? No. No one will bother to do so until the law goes into effect and the unintended consequences become all too apparent to ignore.