[KenP]

Update:

You'd Better Be Wealthy if You're a Fast, Reckless Driver in Virginia

Thursday, July 19, 2007
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

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WASHINGTON ? Local cops and state troopers have become the new tax collectors in Virginia.
That's one complaint from opponents of a new state law that went into effect July 1 to raise fines on traffic violations to as much as seven times their previous levels.

Excessive speeding ? or even driving with under-inflated tires ? could cost you more than $1,000 under the new law.

"You're turning the police into tax collectors with guns ? it's the wrong message," said Del. Bob Marshall, a Republican in the Virginia House of Delegates who opposed the legislation. "That's why this thing has to go."
Virginia politicians typically avoid tax hikes like the plague, so to pay for $65 million in new road and transportation projects, they have increased fines for traffic violations to levels never seen by most Americans.

Supporters say the intention of the law was not to target "soccer moms" or first-time offenders, only the very worst drivers. But the backlash in Virginia has been swift. By Thursday, more than 130,000 people signed onto an online petition calling for the law's repeal.