Highway Robbery
As Ronald Reagan pointed out, government is not your friend. (Well, not unless you number among your friends the likes of mafia extortionists.)
The California legislature was short on the money to renovate court buildings across the state, so they invented a new form of lotto; well, really a reverse lotto -- drive in front of a police car and hope they don't notice anything wrong with your car.
Gary Richards writes for the San Jose Mercury News:
Got a broken blinker? You'd better get it fixed.Under a little-noted law that took effect Jan. 1, the cost of a fix-it ticket has nearly tripled, and drivers who are tardy taking care of a burned-out headlight or another mechanical problem could pay as much as $100 for an offense that a few years ago didn't cost a penny.
Lacking the funds to renovate nearly 400 court buildings across California, the state Legislature approved a boost in fix-it fines from $10 to $25 under a bill written by state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland.
The bill also raised surcharges on regular traffic tickets by $35, parking tickets by $3 and the court cost to attend traffic school by $25.
The increase in the fine for fix-it tickets -- citations issued for a vehicular problem in need of repair -- might not seem like much, but other changes in state law have made it potentially much more expensive. Where one such ticket used to cover several violations, the new regulations make each separate violation a $25 fine. So if a cop cites a driver for having a burned-out brake light and broken mirror, the penalty jumps to $50.
Tack on other fees that can be assessed for prior tickets, night court, security and other reasons, and the total bill can easily exceed $100. And if a driver is late in taking care of the problem, you're talking a bill approaching $200.
Think about the kind of person, in general, who has a car with a broken tail light. I have a 2004 Honda Insight. The thing never has anything go wrong with it. It's people with unpredictable old clunker cars, who probably don't have much money, who are going to be socked with these fines.
That's right -- the economy's tanking and people are living on toaster leavings, but we're going to nail the poorest people on automotive technicalities. The geniuses behind this bill were smart enough to persuade people to vote for them, yet they can't see the unintended side-effects (or are just uninterested): people, at least some struggling people, are liable to get their cars impounded and lose them, thanks to this bill.
Who knows, perhaps at some point, this will lead them to an appearance in one of those sparklingly renovated court buildings.
Oh, and by the way, we can't just blame our legislaturds for all the fiscal dimwittery. California is so debt-laden it's about to break off and fall into the Pacific, yet, in the last election, voters passed numerous ginormously expensive ballot measures with reckless abandon. High-speed train from LA to San Francisco, anyone? (Aww, put it on the credit card. What's another few billion?)
I'm a California voter, and I can't believe we passed a couple of those ballot measures. Fiscal irresponsibility really gets on my nerves - especially blithe fiscal irresponsibility. I have a good 60 years to go (hopefully!), and I'd kinda like to live at least SOME of those years in a country with a healthy economy.
Katie at January 30, 2009 2:00 AM
Hmm. All this from that haven of freedom, huh? I have read that income from tickets is a line item in the California budget.
If you really want to put California in a bind, drive the speed limit.
Radwaste at January 30, 2009 4:10 AM
Yea this will only make the poor peoples lives worse. I was watching a doco on Meter Maids and Car booters in Philadelphia. And all I saw was time and time again lower class people (a good portion black) being shafted for parking tickets. Okay I can understand of you where downtown Phillie and parking for 2 hours without a thought - ok yes. But parking in front of your house or place of business in a slightly blighted neighborhood should not cost that much. One sad part of the doco was a poor black guy who had about 100 dollars worth of tickets and had his car towed. He needs his car or he looses his job. He gets to the parking authorities office and he is shafted with towing fees and more fines totally about 500. He was able to get it down to 250. Still 250 out of poor honest black man. Money that can go towards savings, feeding his children, heck even fixing up his car but nope it is seized in a cash grab called parking tickets.
John Paulson at January 30, 2009 4:21 AM
What's next? A surcharge on citizens fleeing the state?
Lynne at January 30, 2009 5:41 AM
Sorry all you whiners but I think the fix it fine increase is great. If you are going to take several tons of metal onto the public streets you are responsible to make sure all the safety equipment (brake lights, head lights, turn signals, mirrors) are in good working order. I don't want to be involved in the accident you caused for not keeping your car in a safe condition. The fact that you may be strapped for cash does not mitigate the pain, suffering or loss of those you injure.
There is a little know or used word to describe my thoughts on this. It is RESPONSIBILITY. Unfortunately too many people do not know or care what that word means.
Jay at January 30, 2009 6:00 AM
Don't be so sure, Amy (about your 2004 being perfect, that is). Unless you have L.E.D.'s instead of light bulbs, your bulbs can burn out randomly just as anyone else's can. However, I'm guessing it is easier to change a bulb in an old 80's GM car (maybe 3 minute job) than any new car, foreign or domestic, as everything is so packed together in the new ones.
Most of the time is spent going to buy the parts, which is why I buy 2 or 3 of any type bulb that burned out to save me trouble the next time. As to California, fuck that state and the socialists they elect. Get out while you can (before the people excise tax, as someone mentioned)!
Jay, go check your vehicle and tell me whether both side back-up lights work. Then get back to us, mmmkay?
Dave Lincoln at January 30, 2009 6:22 AM
Dave, of course they work. I check all my lights regularly. And if they didn't it would be my responsibility to fix them immediately. You need to reread the last paragraph of my previous post.
Jay at January 30, 2009 6:31 AM
Lynne, I've actually heard of proposals in CA for an "exit tax" on the assets of anyone who moves out of state. Exactly how they think they are going to enforce that, I'm not sure.
Cousin Dave at January 30, 2009 7:20 AM
Massachusetts has found a way to save some money. It has stopped mailing out notices to remind people to renew the registrations on their cars. The renewal fee is $60 for two years. You send in the money and they send you another sticker, no extra inspection required.
The police are looking for expired registrations. They stop the car and tow it away. Of course, it would be an abomination for an unregistered car to be on the road. Cost: about $200. There is also a ticket to pay: $1000. It is a tax on forgetfulness.
Remember the word of our times: OBEY. And, do it without our having to remind you.
Andrew_M_Garland at January 30, 2009 8:52 AM
OK, Jay, thanks for getting back to me. Now, did you mean that they both worked last time you checked, or today after I asked you to check?
My point is, that I am all for responsibility, Jay, but a cop can find any reason to pull you over if he wants. They used to be pretty cool about a burned-out bulb, as in, they may just let you know, because the bulb could have burned out that trip or at least since the last time you took notice of your lights. The guy may have told you, you "hey, see if you can get if fixed in the next coupla days; there's a Pep Boys over on Normandy (oh, it's in Watts? I'll excort you ;-) " Cops used to be pretty cool - not true anymore, for the most part.
Nowadays, since the state just wants to ream everyone to pay for socialism, most likely, you, Jay, will just get a ticket that adds up to over $100 with all the taxes. I hope you will chime in on this site when you get one (I say when, not if, and I'm not trying to jinx you (of course not)).
Dave Lincoln at January 30, 2009 9:07 AM
One more thing that Andrew's post reminded me about (BTW, sorry for your having to live among the massholes):
I had out-of-state tags for a number of years in Southern California many years back. One cop that stopped me was a pretty cool guy, and he says "hey, you got the new plates, right? Let's put em on now." So, I'm all "well I don't have a screwdriver in the car" (really, I didn't - it was before I used to keep a bunch of tools in the car). The cop's all "well there's a hardware store right there; you can probably borrow one."
So, we both walk over the the hardware store, but it had just closed. Then, I'm like "OK, I can put the plates on when I get home tonight". He's like "yeah, OK, have a nice day." He really meant it (this was in the '80's BTW, hard to have a nice day in California now.) I'm like, "you too, man, take it easy." Then I went home and drove with my nice out-of-state plate for another 1/2 year or so, but, damn, I felt bad doing it (once in a while, when I thought about it, anyway).
Dave Lincoln at January 30, 2009 9:16 AM
There are several cities in CT that now use a "boot" on your car tires: if a cop sees your car parked and your registration is expired, or he runs your plate and you have unpaid tickets against it, they will place this "boot" on your tires, which locks your car in place, and then you have to go to the police station or the courthouse, after you make good on your fines, to get it removed. In the case of an expired registration, you have to go to the DMV to get it reinstated, which costs another $100, in addition to the $60 for 2-years registration fee. For small trucks and combination plates, I think the fee is $85. They'll get "their" money one way or another! o.O
Flynne at January 30, 2009 9:33 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2009/01/30/highway_robbery.html#comment-1624188">comment from Dave LincolnJay, when I had a '60 Rambler, it was always a crap shoot as to whether I'd actually be able to get in it and drive. I could leave the house with some part working and have it break down by the time I'd left breakfast. Somebody driving behind me (a friend) told me my brake lights were out. I got them fixed. I didn't know until she told me.
Amy Alkon at January 30, 2009 9:38 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2009/01/30/highway_robbery.html#comment-1624190">comment from Amy AlkonThis very cool guy who was a non-commissioned officer (rose through the ranks in the military) who now works at the café I write at used to live in Philadelphia. He told me yesterday that it's probably the most unfair and predatory parking authority in the country, and they give tickets even to people with permits to park with some frequency, and the choice is either to pay the ticket or take a day off work to fight it.
Amy Alkon at January 30, 2009 9:41 AM
Cousin Dave, the courts slapped down Mario Cuomo when he tried to apply NY Income tax to the 401K and IRA withdrawals of former residents. The interstate commerce clause of the Constitution evidently means what it says. You really can leave.
MarkD at January 30, 2009 9:45 AM
yeah, we got the both sides now thing goin' but this is NEW? An aweful lot of cars in the last 25 years have indicators to tell you when a light is out. That isn't the point. If you allow people to drive with no safety equipment, a percentage will. If you have ever drivien in Mexico, you will see cars where only the headlights work, often. Nobody cares. I would think that here we would want the safety equipment to work. If they don't fix the headlight, do they have insurance? Are their tires bald? Bother with putting the kid in a child seat? It costs money to drive, and minimum requirements have to be met.
On the other hand, you shold have seen the 50foot high flaming hoops that eastcoast blogger Megan Mcardle went through to get her car registered after not having clearence through Penn. for some basic infraction from many years ago. Some places look at traffic tickets as a budget item, whitness red-light and speed cameras. Then it isn't a safety issue. If it was, you would put another cop on the streets to get people to slow down. Having a person in a cruiser, policing the streets has far reaching benefits that go far beyond a cost-benefit analysis.
SwissArmyD at January 30, 2009 10:06 AM
Cousin Dave, the courts slapped down Mario Cuomo when he tried to apply NY Income tax to the 401K and IRA withdrawals of former residents. The interstate commerce clause of the Constitution evidently means what it says. You really can leave.
If they want to tax you for leaving, they'll tax you on the sale of a house - and give you an exemption or refund for the purchase of a new house (in California, of course).
Conan the Grammarian at January 30, 2009 10:14 AM
I agree, if your weapon-on-wheels car isn't safe, it's your fault, and you should pay. After all, people do get killed by autos with some frequency, no? And since there doesn't seem to be jack we can do to get the drivers safer, keeping the car safe seems a minimum to me.
momof3 at January 30, 2009 11:58 AM
Well, well, nice to see the other parts of the country are following the same arc as my home state. Here police officers are revenue generators, as are every other department or bureau with the power to levy fines.
As tax collections have sagged (along with population), the governor and other officials on down the food chain have resisted any effort to scale back government. Instead, increased collections from any source was the order of the day. Now it is common to see law-respecting hunters get socked with thousands in fines for forgetting to tag a deer before putting it into the trailer-bed (license was purchased and actually in hand, but not yet affixed to animal, when game officer pulled up. Ticketed anyay). Businessowners find themselves facing "fines" or fees (levies, really) for state interactions that never would be fined or charged before.
All the while, the salaries of cops, teachers and civil servants keep going up, even as business owners face smaller revenues and people leave the state.
Spartee at January 30, 2009 12:26 PM
"Still 250 out of poor honest black man. "
The sooner we raise parking fines for white people, the sooner this country will heal.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at January 30, 2009 1:19 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2009/01/30/highway_robbery.html#comment-1624236">comment from Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers"Still 250 out of poor honest black man. " The sooner we raise parking fines for white people, the sooner this country will heal.
Laugh in the afternoon. And for that, I thank you.
Amy Alkon at January 30, 2009 2:21 PM
MarkD, thanks for the info. I wondered when I posted that if there was an existing precedent. And Conan has a point about the real estate sales tax.
I don't know if this is true in all of Alabama or not, but where I live, if you get gigged on an equipment violation, you have 30 days to get it fixed. You get it fixed within the 30 days, you go down to the courthouse and show them, and they tear up the ticket.
BTW, I don't know how many people know this... In most cars, if your turn signal doesn't flash on one side but just stays on continuously, it means you have a bulb out somewhere on that side.
Cousin Dave at January 30, 2009 2:39 PM
Jay you are right. People do have to be responsible. People do have to be aware of what can go wrong with your car. A broken tail light could cause a death. So can a un- registered car - huh!. Also the dangerous out of state license plate can cause many unforseen deaths. The irresponsibility of driving your friends to the mall. All three are ticketable offences used with the adage of protecting the greater good.
Yet as some people comment gone are the days of police friendliness. 20 years ago cops would have stopped you and told you what was wrong and given you time to fix it (unless you where loud and a an asshole) and usually not ticket you. Cops are not friendly anymore, they see a infraction they get all giddy because now they can fill their quota and if their quota if filled they can relax a little.
Hey Jay do you smoke? Own a cell phone? Listen to music? Eat? Drink? Do any of those while driving and bang you can get hit up for a ticket? DWDs man are the next big money grab for governments.
John Paulson at January 30, 2009 4:55 PM
In case people want to know. The name of the doco is "Parking Wars"
http://www.aetv.com/parking-wars/parking-wars-about.jsp
John Paulson at January 30, 2009 5:09 PM
I don't know if this is true in all of Alabama or not, but where I live, if you get gigged on an equipment violation, you have 30 days to get it fixed. You get it fixed within the 30 days, you go down to the courthouse and show them, and they tear up the ticket.
Not a bad solution (assuming the courthouse is open late at least once a week so that people don't have to get off from work to go). Put some teeth in the enforcement, but ensure that people who really just didn't know that something was wrong can make the fix, no harm, no foul.
Jay, I think part of the issue here is that this is a pretty blatant revenue-raising scheme. Yes, a driver with a broken turn signal is more dangerous than one with a working turn signal...but I doubt that all of the people turning in front of me with no warning and no turn signal have broken turn signals. If you really care about increasing safety, there are other measures that can be taken that don't involve a fine that will fall disproportionately on the poor. Start an advertising campaign: "TUNNY THE TURTLE SAYS TEST YOUR ALARM SYSTEM." Work with car repair places and body shops to offer subsidized tail-light and brake checks. Send "check your lights" reminders with registration renewal reminders, property taxes, etc. Put a coupon in the newspaper that allows people to get a small-sum gift card to a supermarket if they show up with the coupon and a receipt for getting a broken light checked - or heck, set up the occasional Saturday on which cops go to supermarkets and offer the gift cards to drivers who can prove that their lights work. Etc. I'm not saying these are perfect ideas, but if your primary motivation is really safety, and you see safety as getting people to fix broken lights and mirrors quickly, there are many solutions that don't involve traffic tickets and fines and that won't add to the giant cornucopia of laws and regulations that we all have to navigate every day.
One of the most effective tools for improving traffic safety is to put cops at intersections and off of freeways. This is pretty well known. When a "solution" to a problem of "traffic safety" mysteriously doesn't involve anything that would cost money in the front end, and, indeed, promises to raise revenue for the state, I get suspicious. Call it the libertarian cynic in me.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm getting paranoid about whether my brake lights work...
marion at January 30, 2009 6:22 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2009/01/30/highway_robbery.html#comment-1624271">comment from marionThat 30-day grace period seems smart. And I'm with you on it being "a pretty blatant revenue-raising scheme." Nobody cared about anybody's broken tail lights until somebody looked around the courthouses and decided it was time for new curtains or whatever.
Amy Alkon at January 30, 2009 8:40 PM
Well honestly, I think Arizona has the best idea so far about raising revenue. They have set up speed and stoplight cameras. Every freaking where. I believe ljulp can back me up on that one. But I don't know exactly where he lives in Arizona so maybe not.
Anyway, the beauty of the system is they catch you speeding or going through a red light and they fine you up the ass, BUT, it doesn't count as points against your license. Meaning you can do it over and over again while AZ rakes in the dough for your stupidity. On a side note, it has the added benefit of enhancing safety.
maureen at January 30, 2009 8:43 PM
So Maureen as long as I have the money I can speed and drive thru red lights. Awesome!
Actually that is the problem is people who have money can break some laws with impunity. Which to certain way I believe is ok. Maybe they should do it like they do in Finland.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1759791.stm
The ironic part of this is I have no car and no driving license. Yet it still annoys me.
John Paulson at January 31, 2009 1:58 AM
Or, Marion, how about expecting the people that BUY the cars to maintain them, NOT at taxpayer expense? Can't keep it running, don't buy it. Live within your means. Not everyone should have cars, or own homes.
momof3 at January 31, 2009 10:49 AM
Hey Jay do you smoke? Own a cell phone? Listen to music? Eat? Drink? Do any of those while driving and bang you can get hit up for a ticket? DWDs man are the next big money grab for governments.
In the argument over whether cell phone usage, eating, drinking, smoking, brushing your hair, etc. while driving is dangerous, this idiot might have a point: http://spectator.org/archives/2009/01/14/sail-fawns-and-one-for-the-roa
Conan the Grammarian at January 31, 2009 11:20 AM
maureen is right those things are everywhere.
Its so bad that I was listening the other day to a firefighter who got a ticket for speding while driving the truck to a fire, seems responding to an emergency wasnt a good enough excuse and he had to pay the fine
lujlp at January 31, 2009 3:37 PM
What needs to be done is to implement a version of Trotsky's order number 1; fire one out every four government workers and give the rest a 20% pay cut along with a benefits cut. If they are unhappy with that, they can get a job elsewhere.
They need to get the message its our money and they are not doing us a favors with our money.
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