Virginia Is For Speeders

Virginia is for lovers, as the slogan goes. But if you've ever driven on the Capital Beltway around Washington D.C., you also know that Virginia is for speeders. Try going any less than 70 mph in the slow lane when traffic is moving along, and you're likely to become a victim of road rage.

But is this starting to change now? As of July 1, 2007, traffic infractions more serious than low-level speeding or running a stop sign now subject Virginia residents to new civil remedial fees, which are imposed on top of the usual fines. Let's take a look at some scenarios:

That's quite a jump, isn't it? But it's supposedly for a good reason. After all, Virginia needs the new fees to finance the $1 billion annual transportation package it approved this year. I'm just not sure that budget crunches should dictate traffic penalties.

"Just don't speed"

These new fees have drawn criticism for being overly burdensome on the poor, for being imposed only on Virginia residents as opposed to anyone driving in Virginia, and just for being excessive. Proponents of the fees often defend them by saying "just don't speed."

One of the fee legislation's co-sponsors, David Albo, said "it's basically a voluntary tax. If you don't commit a crime on the streets, or run up a huge amount of points, you don't pay anything."

True, no one is forced to pay the fees unless they choose to accept the consequences of breaking traffic laws. But that's no different from anything else. Instead of a $10 fine for jaywalking, how about 10 years in prison? Just don't jaywalk. How about the death penalty for spammers? You see, there's this concept of the punishment fitting the crime.

There's nothing wrong with slowly increasing the fines over time, but c'mon, going 78 in a 55 zone is not at all unusual in an area where the traffic pattern often forces you to drive almost that fast. When the fine goes from $200 one day to $1,250 the next, that's far beyond inflation or reasonable efforts to crack down on speeding. (To be fair, I think the old fine of $300 for a first-time DUI was extremely low considering the seriousness of the crime.)

It will be interesting to see what happens when cases for these new fees begin hitting the court system, and people who didn't know about them experience a rude awakening. And it remains to be seen whether the main effect will be to get people to slow down, or to fix more potholes with the anticipated $65 million to $120 million of annual revenue the fees are expected to generate for Virginia. I'm betting on the pothole repairs. After all, Virginia is for speeders.