The Texas legislature may be putting the brakes on the universally hated Driver Responsibility Program, which faces major changes under a handful of bills that, today, are up for debate in Austin.
Created in 2003 to deal with a $10 billion budget shortfall, the program tacks on surcharges, ranging from $100 to $2,000, for traffic violations like speeding or drunk driving. That's on top of the fees associated with the initial ticket.
Nick Hudson with the ACLU of Texas says it's been an utter failure.
"It's generated less than half of the revenues anticipated and it's failed to change driver behavior, according to traffic incident statistics," he tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI.
On top of that, it's created a debt spiral for low income Texans, who are hit with bills on top of bills. Rick Thompson with the Texas Association of Counties says, for example, people caught drunk driving go to court and take care of the tickets, thinking that's the end of it. Months later, they receive a notification in the mail saying they owed another $1,000 a year for three years. Those who could not afford the surcharge had their license suspended.
"They get pulled over, now they're getting arrested for driving without a license. They owe the $3,000, and now they owe a $250 surcharge for driving without a license," he tells News Radio 1200 WOAI. "It's like a snowball and it's not like these people have this kind of money."
He says the debt spiral has created a larger number of uninsured drivers, and that puts everybody behind the wheel at risk.
But what the program has been really good at is generating millions each year for hospitals and trauma centers. The concern is that, if it's ended, it would cause a spike in property taxes, shifting the burden to Texas homeowners.
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