Traffic fines are going up in Florida
In order to shore up Florida's budget, lawmakers plan to impose higher fines on motorists for all traffic infractions. And discounts for attending traffic school will be a thing of the past.
miamiherald.com
Posted on Friday, 01.09.09
BY STEVE BOUSQUET
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- Caught running a red light? You'll pay $208.
Speeding 25 mph over the limit? Get ready to cough up $258.
If you pay a fine late: Tack on an extra $16.
Although they are desperate for cash, Florida legislators have vowed in their special budget-cutting session not to impose new taxes on working people. Instead, they are relying more than ever on lawbreaking motorists.
Lawmakers will impose a new charge of $10 on all traffic infractions ranging from driving with an expired tag to running a stop sign. The state also is eliminating an 18 percent discount available to violators who go to traffic school, and taking away the right of judges to waive fines, regardless of whether the judge makes a finding of guilt.
In some areas, fines and fees will be even higher because counties and cities have the option of imposing additional charges.
The new money, $63 million next year, includes a redirection of court filing fees from the state treasury to the courts. The money is eagerly sought by judges, prosecutors and public defenders and will be directed to the state court system to help avoid layoffs.
Supporters say the higher fees help a financially strapped branch of government and may deter dangerous driving.
''There's an epidemic of red-light runners and excessive speeding,'' said Sen. Victor Crist, a Tampa Republican who manages state spending on justice programs, noting that fines haven't been raised in years. 'The time has come to ask, `How do we crack down on that?' ''
The higher fees have stoked a debate over whether cash-strapped motorists can afford them -- and whether the punishment fits the crime.
Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, predicted that police officers will issue warnings rather than slap wayward motorists with fines they can't afford.
''We'll probably collect less money,'' Baker said. 'An officer looks at a person and says, `I don't want to write this person a $300 ticket.' I've heard that from individual officers. They make a judgment call.''
Under state law, drivers who don't pay fines for noncriminal traffic violations face suspension of their licenses. A new law allows motorists to perform community service in lieu of payment. But some legislators predict the higher fines will largely go uncollected.
''People can't pay that,'' said Sen. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat.
Miami-Dade County Judge Steve Leifman, who oversees the state's busiest traffic court operation, took no position on the new fines but said many drivers can't pay existing fines. The evidence of that, he said, is a fourfold jump over the past five years in the number of Miami-Dade drivers whose licenses are suspended for nonpayment, to about 400,000. Many could face criminal sanctions for driving with suspended licenses.
''Our courts are now clogged with these cases,'' Leifman said.
Electra Bustle, executive director of the agency that oversees the Florida Highway Patrol, agreed that at some point the state will reach a ''tipping point'' where the fines are too high. She said that hasn't happened yet.
She cited cases such as one a few days ago in Sebring, in which a 6-month-old baby was killed and four others seriously injured when a motorist ran a red light on U.S. 27 in Highlands County.
Sen. Crist said the higher traffic fines serve an important purpose: to insulate the court system from budget cuts in hard economic times, when the demands on civil and criminal justice typically increase. Not only are lawmakers creating a new pool of money, but they are creating three new budget accounts, known as trust funds, to ensure that money from fines is steered to the court system.
Aside from traffic fines, both chambers generally agree on the size of the budget cut in total state spending: $989 million in the House and $967 million in the Senate. But differences remain in the plans to cover a deficit that likely has grown to $2.4 billion. Differences will be resolved this weekend by a conference committee.
Herald/Times staff writer Marc Caputo contributed to this report. |
