Va. Bad Driver Fees Are Upheld

RICHMOND, Aug. 13 -- The wrangling over the state's steep new fines on bad Virginia drivers intensified Monday as a suburban Richmond judge ruled that the fees are constitutional, and fresh evidence emerged that legislators and the governor may have enacted the fees without fully researching the effect on the poor of comparable programs in other states.

In light of the legal maneuvering, the Virginia Supreme Court is considered likely to decide whether the fees, which can reach $3,000, violate the constitutional guarantee of equal protection because they apply only to Virginians and not to out-of-state motorists. In a related development Monday, an 81-year-old Roanoke woman launched a separate challenge to the fees -- intended to raise $65 million for transportation projects -- after being cited for reckless driving.

In January, a month before the Virginia General Assembly approved the fees, the Texas legislature issued a report that concluded a similar program in that state was failing because thousands of drivers could not afford to pay the fees. A copy of the report was obtained by The Washington Post on Monday.

Texas, New York, Michigan and New Jersey impose fees, in addition to court costs and fines, on drivers convicted of serious traffic offenses, such as driving under the influence. As in Virginia, motorists who don't pay the fees in those states could have their driving privileges suspended.

According to the Texas Legislative Budget Board, the state has reported a collection rate of 29 percent since the fees went into effect in 2003. As of a year ago, in 55 percent of cases, involving 828,000 licenses, licenses were suspended because fees were not paid, the report says.

Last month, The Post reported that the licenses of tens of thousands of motorists in New Jersey and Michigan -- including many low-income drivers -- have been suspended because of unpaid fees. Michigan judges are calling for repeal of the program because they are seeing an influx of motorists cited for driving on suspended licenses, which prompts a new round of fees that many cannot afford.

The Texas report recommends that lawmakers significantly modify the state's Driving Responsibly Program, which raises money for trauma care, to make "payment of certain surcharges more feasible for low-income drivers."

The report says lawmakers should consider offering periodic amnesty to some drivers facing the fees, including those who can prove that their driving has improved.

Until changes are made, there are signs the fees are clogging the Texas court system.

Texas Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, a Democrat from El Paso, estimates that half of outstanding arrest warrants in El Paso and Austin are for people who are unable to pay the fees. According to Shapleigh's analysis, 11 percent of residents of those cities have outstanding arrest warrants.

"Driving responsibility laws are increasingly resembling debtors prisons," Shapleigh wrote in a letter to Texas lawmakers last month.

Krista Moody, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), said the governor is open to amending the fee program but does not want to repeal it.