"Speed Can Kill Your Wallet!"
Michael Curran recently found himself pulled over at the side of the
road in Ellis County, Texas, hoping the officer would let him off with a
warning. Curran is the executive vice president and partner at U.S.
Interactive Inc, a defensive driving course.
Bonnie Russell's former position working for a Northern California
police department didn't protect her from a ticket in Marin County. Even
Casey Raskob has received several speeding tickets since 1979, and he's
a New York attorney specializing in traffic-related cases.
If it can happen to them, you're toast.
Leadfoots aren't born, they're made, insiders insist. That's because
many governments post speed limits too low for the road conditions.
According to Eric Skrum, spokesman for the National Motorists
Association, traffic engineers set the safest speeds by surveying cars'
velocity on a stretch of road, and then calculating the limit at the
85th percentile. That usually shakes out to five to 15 miles faster than
the state-posted limits. Furthermore, adds Raskob, the limits were set
to accommodate a 1950's vehicle riding on skinny tires with half as much
braking power.
"Nowadays, the cheapest cars have anti-lock brakes that stop in half the
distance, and everyone has radial tires," he adds. "These speed limits
are antiquated."
In addition, cash-strapped states see speeding tickets as a magical
ATM machine. Virginia has passed a law saying its department of
transportation can designate certain roadways as "safety corridors" and
double the fines in those zones. The criteria to establish one of these
corridors is vague, says Skrum.
Or take Michigan, whose recent "bad driver's bill" slaps a new category
of fines on offenders. Those who accumulate seven or more points on
their licenses in a two-year period pay an additional $100 beyond their
speeding fines. Officials expect to raise between $65 and $75 million
from this new angle, says Michael Lewis, an insurance defense attorney
with Zausmer, Kaufman, August and Caldwell in Farmington Hills.
Then there's Summersville, W. Va. The police in this southern town wrote
out 18,133 tickets in 2001. The town has a population of 3,294. Skrum's
files show this ticket-writing frenzy reaped $2.5 million for the town.
Insurance companies, too, enjoy a profitable slice, as James J. Baxter,
president of NMA, points out in his messages to members. If the average
fine is $150, the association's estimated volume of 25 million to 50
million tickets issued annually transfers $3.75 billion to $7.5 billion
from your checking account to the government's pockets. If just half of
those result in insurance surcharges (typically $300 over a period of
three years), chalk up another $3.75 billion to $7.5 billion.
"Most insurance companies are quick to raise your rates," Lewis
says. "It's the rare company that gives you a pass on this issue."
For instance, officials at Prudential Financial report California
customers lose their 25-percent good-driver discount on the first
offense. Second tickets raise the premium an additional 40 percent. A
third strike equals a 63-percent increase on that original insurance
bill.
(Article goes on but you get the point)
By Julie Sturgeon •
Bankrate.com 8/11/03
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If this is your defense, you might want to check out the
fast track system...