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speeding tickets: "yeah, its all for the profit"


copperhead

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First off, this is happening in South Carolina, not here, but it still shows that the entire point of speeding tickets is to GENERATE REVENUE, regardless of what any cop or judge tries to claim. This has NOTHING to do with keeping people safe.

 

The state rep they interviewed says its not to help close the deficit, but its to take your money so the insurance company doesn't? WTF is that all about? That doesn't even make sense.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/08/south-carolina-targets-low-speed-offenders-help-tackle-213-million-budget/

 

South Carolina is considering a bill that would allow police to slap $150 tickets on motorists caught driving less than 10 mph over the limit --10 times the current minimum -- but let them skip reporting the tickets to shield low-speed offenders from higher insurance premiums.

 

According to the bipartisan legislation, windfall revenues would be split between the state and the towns or cities that issue tickets.

 

It's not clear how much money the proposal, which was introduced last month and is now under review in a legislative committee, would raise. South Carolina faces a $800 million-plus budget shortfall.

 

But state Rep. Todd Rutherford, a Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, told FoxNews.com that the legislation isn't aimed at closing the deficit. While the local ticketing process would help divert revenues from insurance companies to the cash-strapped state, Rutherford said it's directed at providing additional protections for motorists.

 

"My biggest thing is motorists should have an option and law enforcement should have an option," he said.

 

Under current South Carolina law, low-level speeders are fined anywhere from $15 to $25 and all traffic tickets are required to be reported to the state Department of Motor Vehicles where points are assessed according to the law.

 

Insurers say the targeted ticketing won't make much difference for motorists since they no longer determine insurance costs according to a violator's rate of speed. These days, insurers look at a wide range of factors when determining premiums.

 

"Driving points do count, but they're not the immediate rate-raisers that they used to be," Alicia Jackson, operations manager for S.C. Insurance News Service, an insurance industry trade group, told FoxNews.com.

 

Rutherford said that is "partially" true because premiums are determined by violations on a motorist's record, regardless of what the violation is. So not listing violations means reduced insurance rates for motorists.

 

At the same time, he said he thinks most motorists would be willing to fork over $150 under the new scenario.

 

"If it doesn't get reported, most people don't mind paying," he said.

 

Rutherford said he's also not concerned by worries that the bill could bring back the days when police pocketed the fines or municipalities withheld the state's share.

 

"They can't do that in South Carolina," he said, explaining that over the last 10 years, only one or two troopers have been caught pocketing fines. "The ones caught were taking it from illegals because they thought they wouldn't report it."

 

He added that most motorists don't carry much cash on them so they wouldn't hand the fine directly over to police.

 

Several of the state's 46 counties already have laws on the books that create careless-driving tickets as alternatives to a statewide traffic violation, reported The State newspaper, which detailed the legislative debate. The state law would apply across the state's 270 municipalities.

 

Careless-driving laws began to rise in popularity with towns and cities in the early 1980s and even more so in the mid-1990s when the state began tacking on several new fees to pay for a slew of programs related to public safety and the criminal justice system, the newspaper reported.

 

"It was both an attempt to dodge insurance points and to dodge the court fees imposed by the state," Howard Duvall, the former longtime director of the Municipal Association of South Carolina, told the newspaper.

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/08/south-carolina-targets-low-speed-offenders-help-tackle-213-million-budget/#ixzz1G53u0tep

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but let them skip reporting the tickets to shield low-speed offenders from higher insurance premiums.
That actually could work in one's favor. Its iffy though. For instance, when I first got my 300zx(back in the day), I got a ticket, and because I had a ticket a year prior in my wifes SUV, I lost my "Safe-Driver" discount, and my fuckin rates shot up something outrageous. The ticket was for 10mph over exactly. Having the option to pay a no-points fine is one I would have been happy to pay. Cheaper than a lawyer, which is what I would do now, to avoid the points/reporting.

 

But yeah, tickets have nothing to do with safety.

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If they don't impose a "fine" or "fee" for speeding, they'll just charge you a "tax" to use the roads.

 

The only difference between those 3 words is that people go batshit insane when they hear "tax".

 

You so smart buddeh

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If they don't impose a "fine" or "fee" for speeding, they'll just charge you a "tax" to use the roads.

 

The only difference between those 3 words is that people go batshit insane when they hear "tax".

 

Well fuck maybe the roads would be in better condition in that case.

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Ive had 3 tickets in the last 3 years for speeding in Louisiana. If you pay the ticket before the court date listed it does not show up on your driving record at all. I paid almost 500 for all 3 tickets. I was mad as fuck at the time because how expensive they were but now Im good with it since there is no record.
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We got a ticket in South Carolina about 12 years ago. A fucking 74 in a 70.

 

The fine was not the $15-$25 mentioned in that article. It was a lot more and your choice, if you wanted to fight it, was to be back in SC that following week.

 

That was the fucking cash game... out of state? $$$$$

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Heres an idea: Quit breaking the fucking law and do the speed limit or less.

That will never happen because it makes sense. Idiots will always do something wrong and go "It wasn't my fault". Grow a pair,admit you fucked up, man up and pay your shit.

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