Virginia jsut became the worst state to drive in...urgh...

[patentman]

Yet another reason I am glad to be leaving Virginia.

 

[edro]

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
~Winston Churchill~

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Triumph
Goddamnit!!! :| Who the fack let this one pass? This constitutes cruel and unusual punishment!

Collectively we all did when they were having quite public discussions about this back during the last General Assembly session. They were basing their "no new taxes" drive on this scheme and the media let them get away with it by not making a point of showing that the only difference between these fees and taxes are in the way they are levied and what they are called. In the end they are depending on this scheme to raise billions for road construction. The one guarantee is that it will be a big windfall to lawyers come August when people really begin to become aware of exactly what was passed in the last session.

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: Mike2002
Now watch them do that little Operation Air, Land, and Speed thingy every weekend. This past weekend they said they wrote over 7,000 tickets during it. That'll be a looooooooot of money in a few weeks.

I drove from the east coast of VA to TN this weekend and couldn't go 5 miles without seeing someone pulled over. It was insane! That being said, how many cops do you really need to see before you slow down a bit. I drove the whole trip at 9mph over and had no issues. Maybe the people complaining about this need to re-think their driving habits.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Two words: Poitical Suicide

This guy will never win another election. And if there are any smart guys in that legislature they will RUSH a bill to the floor striking down that piece of crap.

I wonder if fellow legislators would be in a rush to strike it down. The thing passed because no one read the legislation that was handed to them before voting. Happens here in Tennessee on a regular basis... nothing this outlandish though.

 

[MrChad]

:laugh:

I'm moving to Virginia next month!

:sigh;

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Mike2002
Now watch them do that little Operation Air, Land, and Speed thingy every weekend. This past weekend they said they wrote over 7,000 tickets during it. That'll be a looooooooot of money in a few weeks.</end quote></div>

I drove from the east coast of VA to TN this weekend and couldn't go 5 miles without seeing someone pulled over. It was insane! That being said, how many cops do you really need to see before you slow down a bit. I drove the whole trip at 9mph over and had no issues. Maybe the people complaining about this need to re-think their driving habits.

If it was limited to really dangerous offenses like reckless driving and DUI I wouldn't have a problem with it. Sorry but $900.00 because I forgot my license expired last month seems more than a bit excessive.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: rudder
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Two words: Poitical Suicide

This guy will never win another election. And if there are any smart guys in that legislature they will RUSH a bill to the floor striking down that piece of crap.</end quote></div>

I wonder if fellow legislators would be in a rush to strike it down. The thing passed because no one read the legislation that was handed to them before voting. Happens here in Tennessee on a regular basis... nothing this outlandish though.

Not true. As I posted earlier this was all discussed in some detail during a rather large fight over road funding. The numbers and details where the devil actually lurks were never mentioned during all of this though. It was touted as a grand compromise and there was even a Governor's review of this whole mess but he declined to intervene which is potentially the smartest political move he has made to date. If this ends up affecting as many people as I think it will I suspect that we will have a General Assembly and Senate controlled by Democrats after the next election.

 

[JRich]

Format USA:

Doing so will erase politicians. Are you sure? (y/n):

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: benchiu
Only if you're a Virginia resident though, lol

yeah, but you're still hit with heavy fines out of state. It's ridiculous mostly because a speed limit of 55 on an open highway is ridiculous.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: benchiu
Only if you're a Virginia resident though, lol </end quote></div>

yeah, but you're still hit with heavy fines out of state. It's ridiculous mostly because a speed limit of 55 on an open highway is ridiculous.

The fines are not any different for out of state drivers. If you get caught speeding 70 MPH in a 55 MPH in Fairfax County your total cost will be $132.00 ($5.00*15+$57.00). If you happen to be in one of the so called Highway Safety Corridors then your total will be $207.00 ($10.00*15+$57.00). A regular run of the mill speeding ticket here does not result in an outrageous fine for in state or out of state drivers. The fees that are the topic of the OP are over and above the normal fines for traffic infractions and only assesed against residents so being out of state gives you a big break.

 

[eits]

virginia's ALWAYS been the worst state to drive in. i got the biggest bullnuts tickets in there.

one time, i missed the merge on 495 going back to maryland, so i wanted to just catch the next exit and turn back around. well, after the 495 exit, rt 66 turns into ALL hov lanes. i was driving alone. so, i took the first exit off to just turn around and there was a cop just standing in the middle of the exit. i pulled up to him to ask how to loop back around to the highway to get to 495n. he interrupts me and asks, "do you know why i pulled you over?" i was like "... i actually stopped to ask for directions... i'm lost. i'm not from here." he said, "pull over to the shoulder and turn your car off." i was like, "but i just need directions..." and he yelled, "PULL OVER!" and reached for his gun.

yadda yadda yadda, i ended up with a $207 or something hov lane violation. whenever i called my parents to let them know about the bullcrap that just transpired, he pulled me over again and gave me a ticket for using cell phone while i was driving (i was still on the shoulder).

i couldn't fight it in court because i had to go back to st. louis for school.

 

[Modular]

Originally posted by: Triumph
Who the fack let this one pass?

Another Democrat who claims to be doing the will of the people...now instead of big business being the problem, we can all see plain and clear why big government is even worse. Thanks for making it easy to see through the BS Mr. Kaine

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Modular
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Triumph
Who the fack let this one pass? </end quote></div>

Another Democrat who claims to be doing the will of the people...now instead of big business being the problem, we can all see plain and clear why big government is even worse. Thanks for making it easy to see through the BS Mr. Kaine

Sorry but the Democrats are not to blame for this one. Kaine actually opposed this deal. The Dems wanted to increase taxes to pay for the transportation bill and some Senate Republicans were on board with that as well. The General Assembly Republicans are the ones that dreamed this scheme up and got it passed into law so they could falsely claim that they addressed the transportation issue without raising taxes.

 

[manowar821]

Right, because that's what the state needs... More undeserved money.

 

[Kaieye]

Easy, don't speed and drive wrecklessly. Too many people are getting hurt and possibly killed.

I drive about 15k miles a year and had no moving violation in almost 34 years. I hate filling the coffers of our local counties...

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: JRich
C:\ run amendment2

Doing so will erase politicians. Are you sure? (y/n):

Fixed

When All Else Fails.....

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: Kaieye
Easy, don't speed and drive wrecklessly. Too many people are getting hurt and possibly killed.

I drive about 15k miles a year and had no moving violation in almost 34 years. I hate filling the coffers of our local counties...

oh shut... the f... up.

 

[manowar821]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: eits
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Kaieye
Easy, don't speed and drive wrecklessly. Too many people are getting hurt and possibly killed.

I drive about 15k miles a year and had no moving violation in almost 34 years. I hate filling the coffers of our local counties...


</end quote></div>

oh shut... the f... up.</end quote></div>

I agree with you, eits.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: kranky
Virginia has the luxury of hosting many miles of very busy north-south Interstates and highways and they could be writing speeding tickets 24/7 if they wanted. My friend was coming through VA a couple months ago as the lead car in a 2-car caravan and got pulled over for speeding. I think they wrote him for going 15 over the limit and it was almost $600. His wife was driving the second car and he gave her a ticket too for the same amount since she stopped when my friend got pulled over.

VA probably takes in as much as they would if the highways were toll roads, but without the pesky costs of booths and toll collectors and the irritating stopping to pay the tolls.

And they indeed went to a ticket lawyer to get the ticket knocked down somewhat. Instead of costing him $1200 ($600x2) it ended up costing him about $700 in total - $400 for the lawyer and $300 for the tickets. What a racket, as the story in the OP makes clear.

that's the problem for (south)east coasters that want to travel North--Virginia. you just can't get around it, and as soon as you cross that border from NC, sign after sign of potential violations pops up. speed limit drops 10mph. Virginia traffic laws are, and have always been completely ridiculous.

"Speed monitored by aircraft." --WTF???

 

[Ns1]

Wow, that sucks.

 

[EGGO]

Is this only for those that LIVE in Virginia?

I hate driving through that state to get to my friends in North Carolina or Florida. 6 hours of vast nothingness. I go about 75-80 mph through there if traffic permits.

 

[mcturkey]

I think this is the sign I was looking for... Time to get the hell out of Virginia.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: eits
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Kaieye
Easy, don't speed and drive wrecklessly. Too many people are getting hurt and possibly killed.

I drive about 15k miles a year and had no moving violation in almost 34 years. I hate filling the coffers of our local counties...


</end quote></div>

oh shut... the f... up.

QFT

 

[Kadarin]

From TFA:

Virginia legislator introduces new speeding ticket tax that boosts penalties beyond $3550, driving business to his traffic law firm.

Isn't this known as CONFLICT OF INTEREST? Otherwise known as "corruption"?

It's sounding more and more like a lot of politicians are going to have to go up against the firing squad in order for ordinary citizens to be able to take back our country.