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Texas drivers who haven't paid fines get a break under new surcharges
10:14 AM CDT on Saturday, November 6, 2010
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@***BANNED-URL***
AUSTIN – More than 1.2 million Texans who have refused to pay big fines for drunken driving and other violations are about to be rewarded in spite of their scofflaw ways.
Also Online
Link: Driver Responsibility Program
01/31/2010: Hefty surcharges for Texas drivers with violations remain mostly uncollected
More transportation news
Blog: Politics
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of drivers who have followed state law and made their payments on time are being told to keep doing so.
The contrast in treatment of those who ignore the law and those who don't has rankled some legislators who say that the Texas Driver Responsibility Program hasn't worked and should be scrapped.
The latest flap stems from the state Public Safety Commission's recent decision to grant amnesty to drivers who have declined to pay total surcharges of $750 to $3,000 over a three-year period for driving without a state license or insurance coverage – or driving while intoxicated.
Under the plan, which would take effect in January, those drivers will be allowed to send in just 10 percent of what they owe – up to a maximum of $250 – and have their licenses reinstated and owe no more surcharges. For some with multiple violations, the savings will run into several thousand dollars.
To help Texans who have complied with the program, the commission tentatively agreed to give incentives to those paying surcharges on time, such as reducing their overall fines. But that idea may not take hold, partly because there is no current implementation date and the state's looming budget crunch next year could kill the incentive plan altogether.
Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, one of the biggest critics of the surcharges, said drivers following the law should not be treated differently from those failing to do so because the 7-year-old program "has been a total failure and needs to be scrapped."
The program, he said, is "based on punitive, excessive fines."
Read More...
Texas drivers who haven't paid fines get a break under new surcharges
10:14 AM CDT on Saturday, November 6, 2010
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@***BANNED-URL***
AUSTIN – More than 1.2 million Texans who have refused to pay big fines for drunken driving and other violations are about to be rewarded in spite of their scofflaw ways.
Also Online
Link: Driver Responsibility Program
01/31/2010: Hefty surcharges for Texas drivers with violations remain mostly uncollected
More transportation news
Blog: Politics
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of drivers who have followed state law and made their payments on time are being told to keep doing so.
The contrast in treatment of those who ignore the law and those who don't has rankled some legislators who say that the Texas Driver Responsibility Program hasn't worked and should be scrapped.
The latest flap stems from the state Public Safety Commission's recent decision to grant amnesty to drivers who have declined to pay total surcharges of $750 to $3,000 over a three-year period for driving without a state license or insurance coverage – or driving while intoxicated.
Under the plan, which would take effect in January, those drivers will be allowed to send in just 10 percent of what they owe – up to a maximum of $250 – and have their licenses reinstated and owe no more surcharges. For some with multiple violations, the savings will run into several thousand dollars.
To help Texans who have complied with the program, the commission tentatively agreed to give incentives to those paying surcharges on time, such as reducing their overall fines. But that idea may not take hold, partly because there is no current implementation date and the state's looming budget crunch next year could kill the incentive plan altogether.
Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, one of the biggest critics of the surcharges, said drivers following the law should not be treated differently from those failing to do so because the 7-year-old program "has been a total failure and needs to be scrapped."
The program, he said, is "based on punitive, excessive fines."
Read More...
