SmallGovTimes.com

By: Libertarian Party | Published on 07/09/07    

The newly instituted driving penalties in Virginia are an ironfisted approach to reducing bad driving, says the Libertarian Party of the United States. “The new Virginia driving fees are some of the most outrageous penalties in the United States for driving offenses,” says Shane Cory, Executive Director of the Libertarian National Committee headquartered in Washington D.C. “The state of Virginia has instituted a policy of tyranny on the roadways.”

The laws went into effect July 1. Penalties range from $3,550 for going 20 mph over the speed limit, to being taxed based upon how many points are on a driver’s record.

“The LPVA sees these excessive fees as nothing more than a tax levied upon a small group of citizens,” says Steve Damerell, Communications Chair of the LPVA. “It's plainly obvious that these fees are completely out of touch with the minor offenses that they seek to remedy.”

While the most extravagant penalties are for offenses such as intoxicated driving or speeding, either which can net penalties of $3,000 or more, lesser driving infractions can also merit harsh fees. A driver without proper tread on his tires will receive a $900 fine. Failure to use a signal can carry a penalty of $1,000 if Virginia police construe it as felony reckless driving.

The fees that officials are calling “civil remedial fees” are to be paid over a course of three years. “If you’re caught speeding once, you will still be paying a fee for the same offense over the next three years.” says Cory. “The crime does not fit the punishment by any measure.”

The Libertarian Party calls for the immediate repeal of what is sees as the literal manifestation of “highway robbery.”

Many state officials hope the new law will crack down on unsafe and problematic drivers, but safety doesn’t seem to be a problem on Virginia roads. A US Department of Transportation study shows Virginia highways are some of the safest in the nation. Virginia ranked in the top 15 states for safety in 2001, with only 19 traffic fatalities per 100,000 licensed drivers. The national average was more than 22. Virginia also ranked 13th in the nation for highway safety according to a 2005 report from the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank based in Los Angeles.

“There is no doubt that traffic congestion is terrible in parts of Virginia, and that large expenditures are needed to maintain and build more road capacity in the Commonwealth. However, this financing needs to occur in a coherent manner through some sort of user fee financing; perhaps through gasoline taxes, but preferably through congestion pricing or HOT lane tolls on major highways," said Libertarian Party National Chairman William Redpath, a Virginia resident. "Slapping outrageous fines that don't fit the crime on a small number of drivers is a completely unprincipled and irrational method of road financing, and these recent fine increases need to be repealed immediately."

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