[BigMike]

If you are a resident of Virginia (VA issued Drivers license) and you get pulled over in the state of Virginia after July 1st 2007, you better win the lottery.

According to House Bill 3202/Chapter 896, starting July the 1st, there will be "civil remedial fees" for traffic violation. Links for all this are provided at the bottom, but here is the important stuff:

During its 2007 Session, the General Assembly of Virginia passed House Bill 3202 (Chapter 896), which was designed to provide additional funds to address various transportation needs in the Commonwealth...

The legislation creates “civil remedial fees” to be assessed against Virginia residents convicted of certain motor vehicle-related or driving crimes. These civil remedial fees will not apply to traffic infractions like failure to obey a highway sign or failure to yield or parking too near a hydrant. They apply only to certain motor vehicle-related or driving felonies and misdemeanors (certain motor vehicle-related or driving offenses which are crimes). The civil remedial fees will be assessed against juveniles who have been found delinquent because they committed one of these
motor vehicle-related or driving felonies or misdemeanors...

In one important way, these fees are like court costs. That is, if the fee is applicable to a particular conviction, the court must assess the entire civil remedial fee. However, these civil remedial fees cannot be suspended or reduced. Instead, by law, an applicable civil remedial fee must be assessed by the court in full. Finally, the law provides that “The civil remedial fees established by this section shall be in addition to any other fees, costs, or penalties imposed pursuant to the Code of Virginia.”

OK, so now you know that there will be new fees associated with driving offenses. Now its time to talk about the fees. You better sit down.

The civil remedial fees are imposed in three equal parts. If the fee applies, the court will order the first part of the fee to be paid to the court following the conviction. The court will also order that the second part of the fee must be paid to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) within 14 months and, then, that the third part of the fee must be paid within 26 months of the conviction.

Fee schedule. The civil remedial fees are as follows:

(a) Driving on a suspended license: $250 to the court upon conviction, with two additional payments of $250 each due to DMV, one within 14 months of conviction and the other within 26 months of conviction. [$750 total!]

(b) Reckless driving: $350 to the court upon conviction, with two additional payments of $350 each due to DMV, one within 14 months of conviction and the other within 26 months of conviction. [$1,050 Total!]

(c) DUI and related offenses (§§ 18.2-266, -266.1, 46.2-341.24): $750 to the court upon conviction, with two additional payments of $750 each due to DMV, one within 14 months of conviction and the other within 26 months of conviction. [$2,250 Total!]

(d) Other misdemeanors, “Any other misdemeanor conviction for a driving and/or motor vehicle related violation of Title 18.2 or [Title 46.2] that is not included in one of the preceding three subdivisions”: $300 to the court upon conviction, with two additional payments of $300 each due to DMV, one within 14 months of conviction and the other within 26 months of conviction. [$900 Total!]

Source with included fee table (PDF): http://www.courts.state.va.us/publications/hb_3202.pdf

Full Text of the bill: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=071&typ=bil&val=hb3202

(All personal opinions have been left out of the original post to keep it as just informative)

 

[urbaindk]

What's wrong with that?

a) if your license is revoked, you shouldn't be driving
b) if you drive like an asshole, you should face some consequences
c) if you DWI, you deserve it, jackass. The fine is a small price to pay for putting innocent lives at risk.
d) not sure what that means, I take it to mean that you should be smart and not drive around with a small bag of dope in your lap.

 

[noskcaj]

New York state has a similar law in place. I think it borders on criminal in some situations. I was pulled over for a normal speeding ticket and pled guilty since there was no way I could make the court date seeing as I go to school in Virginia. Well, a month or so goes by and I get a ticket for $145, which I thought was fair, paid it and figured that was the end of the story. Well, another month or so goes by and I get another letter from New York State saying that I now owe them $300 dollars on top of the $145 since I am considered an "Unsafe Driver" in New York and they have an unsafe driver tax. So, the whole ordeal ends up being $445, quite a ****ing speeding ticket. I think it is another slimeball way of politians trying to make money. Why don't state legislators clean up some of the dead wood hanging around and stop bullying citizens... Maybe then I would actually want to live in this country.

 

[BigMike]

What's wrong with that?

a) if your license is revoked, you shouldn't be driving

agreed

c) if you DWI, you deserve it, jackass. The fine is a small price to pay for putting innocent lives at risk.

DEFINITELY agreed

b) if you drive like an asshole, you should face some consequences

You are telling me you've never had a speeding ticket? You think it's fair to charge an EXTRA $900 on top of the $100+ they already charge you??

Just because politicians can't make ends meet, why should they pass it on to us? I agree with charging for speeding tickets, but.... this is ludacris!

 

[Westy]

This is my favorite
OBSCENE VIDEO IMAGE VISIBLE OUTSIDE VEHICLE (C)4 $300

I think that means 3 payments of $300.

 

[corey_rideDC]

we definitely followed a minivan up 395 one evening that had a large LCD inside playing porn. 20 cars were all clustered behind like rats behind st patrick!

 

[urbaindk]

You are telling me you've never had a speeding ticket? You think it's fair to charge an EXTRA $900 on top of the $100+ they already charge you??

!

As far as I know, there's a difference between getting a speeding ticket and reckless driving. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought reckless driving implied that you were not just speeding but going well over the limit. 15 mph over seems to ring a bell. I'm sure it varies by state. If that is the definition of reckless driving then, yes, I think it is fair. If it's just for a regular old speeding ticket, you are right, that really really sucks.

To answer your first question: Last time, I got a speeding ticket was when I was 20 (I'm 35 now) going 78 in a 65 in BF-North Carolina. I was not charged with reckless driving. Now, I typically set the cruise at 5 mph over and go with that. Call me old man if you want but, I can't afford the ticket or the increased insurance.

 

[skatetokil]

in va its 20 over the limit, but virginia is filled with roads that were designed for 75 mph speed limits in the 1970s that now are 55 zones. 80 mph is pretty much the average speed of traffic on most of these places, so if the cops decided they want to cherry pick they could just sit on 495 and collect $1000 for the commonwealth every time a virginia driver comes past. why dont they do this to the out of state mother****ers. i dont get it.

 

[drt_jumper]

in va its 20 over the limit, but virginia is filled with roads that were designed for 75 mph speed limits in the 1970s that now are 55 zones. 80 mph is pretty much the average speed of traffic on most of these places, so if the cops decided they want to cherry pick they could just sit on 495 and collect $1000 for the commonwealth every time a virginia driver comes past. why dont they do this to the out of state mother****ers. i dont get it.

Actually it is up to the descretion of the officer...(Trust me when I was younger I had multiple reckless driving tickets) all of them were reckless by speed, not weaving, or stuff like that. That said if you are doing 11mph over the speed limit and the cop wants to be a prick, then you just got a reckless driving ticket. Either way it sucks. So much for following Corey at 95-100mph back from Wisp!

 

[mcanull]

Thanks for the info. Watch it this weekend the cops are out in force for some reason?
Also, I 81: the state police are patroling with the plane and targeting speeders. Saw several cars pulled over there this morning witch is rare. And one sitting on the side of the road I assume waiting for the call from the man in the sky.

 

[peter6061]

Had plenty of tickets in my youth. Only one that went near reckless was 90 in a 65. Cop told me if I had coped any attitude, it would have been jail. Gave me some line about taking a few women in already that night. I was polite and he reduced it to 20 over. Kept me out of the reckless driving category. If you're a dick to a cop, he's not going to cut you any slack.

In Virginia, as said, everyone speeds. The unposted speed on the beltway is about 75. If you're going slower, you're holding up traffic. Sometimes, it's downright scary trying to merge on from the short ramps.

I don't have a problem with this as it seems to only apply to offenses that should be punished a little more harshly IMO. Sure, I've said F the Po in my day, but a lot of people need to have harsher penalties imposed upon them. F the people who think they can DWI or drive reckless putting us and our families at risk.

 

[BigMike]

in va its 20 over the limit, but virginia is filled with roads that were designed for 75 mph speed limits in the 1970s that now are 55 zones. 80 mph is pretty much the average speed of traffic on most of these places, so if the cops decided they want to cherry pick they could just sit on 495 and collect $1000 for the commonwealth every time a virginia driver comes past. why dont they do this to the out of state mother****ers. i dont get it.

Read a little more carefully, it would be $3,000 in ADDITION to the fines and court fees. You would owe a grand at the time of offense, 16 months later, and 24 months later.

Does anyone know the difference between a felony 80mph+ and a misdemeanor 80mph+?

 

[mcanull]

I am guessing but: 65 + 15 =80mph misdemeanor

then 45+ 35 = 80mph felony

I think if its 30 mph over its a felony.

 

[drt_jumper]

Usually the felony part is if you obviously are running from police, driving very erratically, are a danger to other motorists....i.e. everyone is doing 55 and you come weaving in and out of traffic at 90+mph. I got pulled over a few years ago....about 4 actually for doing 105 in a 55 on 270. It was obviously reckless driving but there was no jail time, it was reported as a misdeamenor. Was also $790.00 fine as well. Usually in Virginia if you are doing over 100mph there is some jail time. I know because I had to do 2 nights in jail in Covington for doing 101 in a 65 when I was 18. Never gotten charged with a felony though. Once again I think it is Officer and Judge discretion!

 

[TDN]

The reason it only applies to VA residents is that the DMV will collect the fees along with your license/registration renewal. Other states (like NY, NJ) apply the fees to everyone and collect them directly.

Some have said that, if people go to court, the judges may reduce fines more now, knowing that people are going to get hit with these additional fees later (judges have no control over the DMV fees). The existing fines and court costs (if you go to court) go to the county/city govt, but the new fees go to the state. So even though this new law will bring in more $$ to the state govt, it may reduce revenue for local govts, which will exacerbate the budget shortfalls for cities and counties who have already had to deal with decreasing funds from the state.

 

[Darth Duncan]

The chart on the pdf doesn't say anything about speeding.

 

[AlmostHeaven]

what about basic tickets like failure to signal, failure to stop/yield, broken tail/head lights, and other vehicle-related issues. are these considered the 'misdemeanors' mentioned in section D?...or are these just offenses just ticketable and you pay the regular small fine?

 

[chuffer]

Whatever, I read the list and...

I think it is wonderful and long overdue.

If you drive like an idiot, you're gonna pay. I only wish that talking on the cell phone without a hands-free device while driving was also illegal.

One thing I cannot stand is people endangering my life with their stupidity. If the stupid people are going to be forced to help pay for the long overdue repairs on the 64, 95 & 195, that makes me even happier.

For all the people asking about speeding and signals, read the list. Speeding is covered two times as a felony and two times as a misdemeanor. Driving too fast for conditions and failure to give proper signal are covered once each as felonies and once each as misdemeanors.

Chuffer -well on his way 50,000+ miles behind the wheel in 2007.

 

[drt_jumper]

valentine 1 detector will be coming soon

 

[peter6061]

valentine 1 detector will be coming soon

Radar detectors are illegal in VA.

I only wish that talking on the cell phone without a hands-free device while driving was also illegal.

I thought I heard somewhere that part of this new highway bill included a new provision restricting cell phone use in vehicles for all under 18 drivers. Something like that. I'll have to look. At least it's a step.

 

[corey_rideDC]

Fees for Driving Infractions to Be Reassessed

"As a part-time legislature, we will make mistakes, and we will have to correct them," said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem), who wants to revisit which misdemeanors the fees cover.

 

[drt_jumper]

Fees for Driving Infractions to Be Reassessed

"As a part-time legislature, we will make mistakes, and we will have to correct them," said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem), who wants to revisit which misdemeanors the fees cover.

well maybe there is still hope for politicians......maybe they arent all retarded....as for the women in the article saying that a $750 fee for a first time DUI is too much is a complete idiot.....It should be get one DUI license gone for 2 or 3 years, and a $2000 fine...get caught again mandatory 6 month jail sentence and license gone for good!

 

[skatetokil]

well maybe there is still hope for politicians......maybe they arent all retarded....as for the women in the article saying that a $750 fee for a first time DUI is too much is a complete idiot.....It should be get one DUI license gone for 2 or 3 years, and a $2000 fine...get caught again mandatory 6 month jail sentence and license gone for good!

yes and no. .08 is too low a limit for such consequences. I'd like to see a scale with .08 at one end with a simple fine and a ride home from the finest and >.3 with serious pound you in the ass jail time and fines. The punishment must correspond to the danger you pose to others and right now its all out of wack. social drinkers who are perfectly safe responsible drivers get picked up by the insane dd checkpoints and go to jail/have their lives ruined. ghey.

 

[ridiculous]

To: Elected Officials in the Commonwealth of Virginia

To: Elected Officials in the Commonwealth of Virginia

We, the citizens of Virginia, are opposed to the outrageous and unjust traffic fines imposed as "civil remedial fees" in House Bill 3202 for the following reasons:

1. The fines inflict a punishment on drivers that is disproportionate to the degree of the offense they committed.
2. The fines are mandatory, and judges are given no discretion in sentencing.
3. The language of the bill states that the purpose is to "generate revenue" and hence the fines have nothing to do with traffic safety.
4. The bill's sponsor, Del. David Albo (R- 42nd District) is a partner in a law firm that specializes in traffic court cases and stands to benefit personally from this legislation. This type of conflict of interest should not be tolerated.
5. The fines in the bill apply ONLY to Virginia residents, hence unfairly creating different penalties for the same traffic offense based solely on residency.
6. In order to generate additional revenue, points for driving offenses remain on the offender's license for up to 11 years. This will unnecessarily increase the offender's insurance rates for a time frame that is incongruent with the degree of the offense.

We, the undersigned, demand the immediate repeal of these "civil remedial fees." We will not vote for any state Delegate or State Senator who voted for this bill, or for any Delegate or Senator who does not take action to repeal the sections of House Bill 3202 that inflict these exorbitant and unjust penalties.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://www.petitiononline.com/va3202/petition-sign.html?

 

[Shortbus]

What's even more faked up about this is that let's say you're a MD (any out of state) driver in VA committing the same infractions and you're spared from this crap.
Also remember, with those more severe infractions, you need a lawyer (add an average of 1000$), as well as many many other unforeseen fees.

while I can agree that speeding is dangerous, I wanted to bring up the other side of this equation. I drive through the nightmare that is 495 twice a day. Every single time, there are people doing 40mph in the left lane. There's usually someone else day-tripping along with them in the next lane over. Repeat for the third lane. Once one of em decides to move over, and there's a chance to somehow (mostly recklessly) pass these people, they tend to speed up until they can form another cluster. Speeding is dangerous, but unexperienced drivers upholding the speed limit is even more reckless. And it's often the drivers stuck behind these people that eventually get pulled over. All of this could be avoided by people having the common courtesy of "yielding".
I don't think it's more fines this State needs, I think it'd better driving schools.

 

[skatetokil]

I love speeding. I speed every chance I get. However I would argue that I'm less dangerous at 85 than an idiot at 55. The stupid **** I see on the roads is almost unbelievable.

 

[cleangnar]

Thanks for the link to that petition. I also just had it forwarded to me so hopefully that thing is making the rounds quickly.
Regardless of how you feel about reckless driving, DUI, etc. the thing to remember here is that fines are meant for punishment / deterrent while taxes are for revenue. The 1st post makes clear that these fines are intended to cover some trouble with the transportation budget. Its just a sneaky way to tax a small % of the voters a lot of $$$ all at once, rather than a little $$$ from everybody. But eventually, everybody's luck will run out.
People vote more often than they get caught breaking traffic laws; what you see here is a bunch of lawmakers who thought no one would notice until they got a ticket.
Maybe the cost of VA's roads should be paid by the people using them.....a small fuel tax increase, maybe, or (novel idea) find a way to save the money??

 

[TDN]

there was an article in the paper yesterday about this... apparently mich and nj have done this and it did not have the intended effect. roads are not necessarily safer and these two states have a lot more unlicensed (and uninsured, and still unsafe) drivers. and oh by the way, this tends to be the poorer folks who can't afford the fees, but they need a car to get to work so they can pay the bills and keep their lives on the right track. but instead, poor guy gets pulled over doing 80 in a 55, a bad enough ticket for the fines to kick in and then one thing leads to another... pretty soon hes got no license (suspended), registration (revoked), gets dinged for driving on a suspended license or on expired tags, more $$$, then maybe lose the car, lose the job, then he's on the street, who knows what's next in this downward spiral. sounds like a recipe for continuing the divide between the haves and the have-nots.

 

[BikeGeek]

In the first case of its kind, a Henrico County General District Court judge today struck down as unconstitutional the Virginia's controversial speeding ticket tax that had been in effect since July 1. Judge Archer L. Yeatts, III ruled that the civil remedial fees violated the equal protection clause by applying additional, mandatory fines of up to $3000 on Virginia drivers, but not out-of-state drivers who may have committed the same driving violation (fee description).

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/18/1896.asp

 

[BigMike]

In the first case of its kind, a Henrico County General District Court judge today struck down as unconstitutional the Virginia's controversial speeding ticket tax that had been in effect since July 1. Judge Archer L. Yeatts, III ruled that the civil remedial fees violated the equal protection clause by applying additional, mandatory fines of up to $3000 on Virginia drivers, but not out-of-state drivers who may have committed the same driving violation (fee description).

My Hero!