‘Woodley Park – Watching Traffic – 12-15-08’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’
Mayor Fenty this morning announced the wholesale increase in traffic violation fines, including some that have double, tripled, or in one case, dectupled. The move will generate approximately $7M in additional revenue for the cash-strapped city government before the end of the fiscal year in October. The Examiner has a handy list of the new fines, but the ones that went up the most are:
Passing a Schoolbus with its red blinkers on: Now $500 (from $50)
Failing to secure loads: Now $250 (from $50)
“Coasting”: Now $75 (from $15)
Failure to Yield: Now $100 (from $25)
Speeding (11-15mph): Now $125 (from $50)
Things like good quality driving lessons are crucial, at Ignition we provide good quality, great value driving lessons, that won´t stretch your budget. Unlike some driving schools we won’t entice you with gimmicks and heavy discounts only to increase the price of your driving tuition further down the line. Instead, we believe in a fair pricing system throughout your learning to drive experience, meaning you won´t be learning to drive for longer than necessary. Our introductory offers are a great way to, not only meet your driving instructor and complete your driving lessons, but also familiarise yourself with the controls of the car and to get started, and our block booking discounts will ensure you get good value driving tuition.
The fix for most of us is easy: Don’t Drive Like an Idiot, Don’t Get Fined. This is not rocket surgery.
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
Um, “coasting?”
We law enforcement has a financial incentive to issue citations, the basis for the citations will become more an more questionable. Citations should be issued because traffic laws have been violated, not because the government needs more money. Otherwise, traffic enforcement becomes a racket with tickets being issued without legitimate cause.
Will this cause people to drive safer? Questionable. Its not the fine that creates the incentive – its the points on your license which drive up your insurance. People already have a significant incentive to keep their insurance rates low.
End result, people who drive like idiots will continue to drive like idiots. People who drive gently will get tickets even when they did nothing wrong.