This Is Crap!!!

**Five-0** · 03-08-11, 11:19 PM

I have sat face to face with an elected official and told him point blank that I DO NOT write citations to raise revenue for his town. Now I have to see crap like this:

South Carolina Considers Alternate Penalties for Drivers Caught Going Slightly Above Speed Limit - FoxNews.com

Click the links for the whole damn story

South Carolina Considers Alternate Penalties for Drivers Caught Going Slightly Above Speed Limit
Published March 08, 2011 | FoxNews.com

advertisement
South Carolina is considering a bill that would allow police to slap $150 tickets on motorists caught driving less than 10 mph over the limit --10 times the current minimum -- but let them skip reporting the tickets to shield low-speed offenders from higher insurance premiums.
According to the bipartisan legislation, windfall revenues would be split between the state and the towns or cities that issue tickets.
It's not clear how much money the proposal, which was introduced last month and is now under review in a legislative committee, would raise. South Carolina faces a $800 million-plus budget shortfall.
But state Rep. Todd Rutherford, a Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, told FoxNews.com that the legislation isn't aimed at closing the deficit. While the local ticketing process would help divert revenues from insurance companies to the cash-strapped state, Rutherford said it's directed at providing additional protections for motorists.
"My biggest thing is motorists should have an option and law enforcement should have an option," he said.
Under current South Carolina law, low-level speeders are fined anywhere from $15 to $25 and all traffic tickets are required to be reported to the state Department of Motor Vehicles where points are assessed according to the law.
Insurers say the targeted ticketing won't make much difference for motorists since they no longer determine insurance costs according to a violator's rate of speed. These days, insurers look at a wide range of factors when determining premiums.
"Driving points do count, but they're not the immediate rate-raisers that they used to be," Alicia Jackson, operations manager for S.C. Insurance News Service, an insurance industry trade group, told FoxNews.com.
Rutherford said that is "partially" true because premiums are determined by violations on a motorist's record, regardless of what the violation is. So not listing violations means reduced insurance rates for motorists.
At the same time, he said he thinks most motorists would be willing to fork over $150 under the new scenario.
"If it doesn't get reported, most people don't mind paying," he said.

Read more: South Carolina Considers Alternate Penalties for Drivers Caught Going Slightly Above Speed Limit - FoxNews.com

**Pudge** · 03-08-11, 11:26 PM

Sweet jeebers....

**Jks9199** · 03-08-11, 11:28 PM

No problem. If enacted, nobody gets stopped/cited for less than 10 over.

But I gotta wonder what the insurance industry has to say about this idea...

**Pudge** · 03-08-11, 11:34 PM

Originally Posted by Jks9199

But I gotta wonder what the insurance industry has to say about this idea...

They're probably going nuts over it.

Insurance companies are responsible for me not writing citations in 99% of the crash reports I take.

All they want to know is who in the crash received a cite, or why they didn't. When I'm on days I'm good for at least one voicemail a week from a claims agent wanting to know why I didn't cite someone....or like the last message I had, didn't know who was at fault because there was no citation listed on the report.

Sorry, different animal, but I'm not a fan of how they've worked themselves into a position where they dictate more than they should.

**bayern** · 03-09-11, 10:25 AM

The insurance companies say they don't use points anymore in figuring your rate increases, but use other factors (like asking a question-State Farm will raise your rate - been there done that). (Bull S%%%) but that's what they say. There are towns in that state that live off fines. Like those crappy towns coming out of Myrtle Beach to I-95 and one of the worst, South Congree just past the Columbia Airport. Soon you will see police cruising around in BMW's and Mercedes.