When the government needs a new project, their first reaction is always “how can we get more money from the citizens?” It seems that lawmakers never consider the possibility of working within the budget and revenue streams that currently exist, or the possibility of increased efficiency and/or fiscal responsibility. For example, take this:
$500,000 becomes $77 million for state
West Virginia saved $77 million in one year by “common sense” recommendations. Now, there is no guarantee that VA could save that much, but VA has a larger population and a larger, more active government than WVA. So, it is entirely possible that the $65 million expected to be raised by the “civil remedial fees” could be recovered through more efficient use of existing revenue. I think the Commonwealth owes it to the citizens (read: taxpayers) to find out before hitting us with asinine fees for minor traffic violations.
The second issue behind the fees is speed. In Virginia, going 20 mph over the speed limit or going over 80 mph (which is only 15 over in a 65 mph zone) is considered reckless driving. This is absurd. Certainly there are situations where going this fast is reckless, but the majority of the time, it is not. First, people travel at those speeds all the time- if it was truly reckless, there would be hundreds of deadly accidents a day. But there aren’t. Slower doesn’t necessarily mean safer and speed isn’t inherently dangerous. This is a misconception that has been spread by money-hungry lawmakers and ill-informed traffic safety advocates. In fact, evidence shows that accidents go DOWN when speed limits are raised.
Second, speed limits haven’t been raised since then 1950’s and have not kept pace with the improved technology in automobiles. At the time the 65 mph limit was established, most cars were not capable of going at speeds much faster than that. We didn’t have radial tires or anti-lock brakes or vehicle stability assist or any of the other features that makes today’s vehicles safer and more capable of higher speeds than their predecessors.
Finally, and most importantly, most people do not obey posted speed limits. We all have anecdotal evidence of this, but radio host Tom DeSabla has made a video to prove it (View the video) . When the overwhelming majortiy of motorists disobey the speed limit, the problem is with the speed limit and not with the motorists. If our speed limits were set appropriately, then David Albo’s claim that the civil remedial fees only effect the most dangerous drivers would be correct and there would be significantly less outrage over the bill. Instead, the majority of us could be targeted by these fees, and the majority of us are not dangerous drivers.
