Va. Enacted Bad-Driver Fees Despite Red Flags

Under pressure to repeal the fees, the state commissioned a study last year that found that although only 16 percent of residents live in low-income areas, those neighborhoods house nearly 40 percent of the people whose licenses have been suspended for failure to pay fees and fines.

The commission recommended increasing the amount of time to pay, a proposal under consideration by the legislature. But the commission stopped short of saying that the fees should be scrapped.

"The commission set up was not comfortable recommending the program be dissolved, largely because it's an integral part of New Jersey's finance system," said Jon Carnegie, who was a principal investigator for the commission.

Virginia Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax), who helped develop the state's abusive-driver law, said he was unaware of the study and received only "glowing reports" from New Jersey officials about how the fees have made roads safer there. Albo said he did not remember getting an e-mail from Buhl.

Cathleen Lewis, a New Jersey motor vehicle agency spokeswoman, said there is no way to determine whether the fees "conclusively impact highway safety."

In Michigan, traffic fatalities declined 12 percent from 2003 to 2005, compared with a 2.2 percent increase nationwide during that period, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A spokesman for the Michigan State Police said it is too early to tell whether the decline can be attributed to the fees.

Michigan motorists convicted of some misdemeanors and felonies must pay between $500 and $1,000 for consecutive years in addition to a fine and court costs. Michigan drivers with seven points on their licenses must pay $100, then $50 for each additional point.

The Michigan fees are supposed to raise $80 million to $100 million annually. But the state has a collection rate of 40 percent because so many people cannot afford to pay them, state officials said.

A bill in the Michigan legislature, sponsored by Sen. John J. Gleason (D-Genesee), aims to repeal the fees. But Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm (D) said through a spokesman that the state, which has a projected budget deficit of $1.8 billion, cannot afford to repeal them. The fees are also being challenged in Michigan's Supreme Court.

Michigan has issued 750,000 suspension notices for failure to pay the fees since they went into effect in October 2003.

In December, Buhl and three other Michigan judges told a legislative committee that the state's unlicensed motorists are increasing in number and are regularly fleeing police. Once caught, they face another round of fees they cannot afford.

Several judges in Michigan are taking matters into their own hands by lessening the charges for some motorists so that the fees are not triggered.

"We are trying our best to get them past this rather than impose another $1,000 fine on them, or they would never drive. They would just be poor forever," said District Court Judge Roger J. La Rose, who presides in suburban Detroit.

In Virginia, Henry County Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Bushnell said state prosecutors are bracing for similar problems.

"The way this thing works out, it is going to have an absolutely ruinous effect on financially challenged Virginians," he said. "To my knowledge, no one from the police was consulted. We weren't consulted. The court clerks weren't consulted. Had it come up, I think the General Assembly would have been aware of all kinds of concerns from Virginians about the unanticipated downside to this program."

Staff researcher Robert W. Lyford contributed to this report.