Proposed Maryland fines would make bad drivers pay

Mary Lou Jay

Maryland drivers convicted of certain offenses soon could be paying surcharges over and above the usual fines.

Under Gov. Martin O'Malley's surcharge plan in his 2012 proposed budget, convicted drunken drivers would pay a surcharge of $500 a year for three years. Drivers who have accumulated more than five points on their driving records in a two-year period would pay a surcharge of $100 for each additional point for three years. The projected $10 million that Maryland would collect each year would go into the general fund.

In 1983, New Jersey became the first state to impose driver surcharges, with the money collected earmarked for the state fund that provides auto insurance for drivers who can't get standard insurance. New Jersey's surcharges are steep. Drivers convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) must pay surcharges of $1,000 a year for three years, according to the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. Drivers who accumulate six or more points within three years receive a $150 surcharge plus $25 for each additional point. They also pay $100 for driving without a license, $250 for driving with a suspended license and $250 for operating an uninsured vehicle.

Michigan and Texas have enacted similar surcharges, which they call "Driver Responsibility" fees. In all of these states, failure to pay the fines results in automatic suspension of a driver's license.

The states with surcharge programs acknowledge they were instituted primarily as a means of filling budget gaps, but these states insist the fees have helped encourage safer driving. Critics of these laws, however, say they have not been particularly successful in achieving either goal.

For example, the driver surcharges were supposed to reduce the number of uninsured motorists, because the penalties for driving uninsured are so high. But Texas' rate of uninsured drivers -- 22 percent-- remains one of the highest in the country, according to an August 2010 testimony presented by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition. The group also reported that 6 percent of all Texas drivers owed the surcharge, and more than 60 percent of assessed surcharges go unpaid. Both Texas and New Jersey have had to establish limited-time amnesty programs to try to collect reduced payments.
 
A 2001 report by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice noted that the largest number of license suspensions in that state was caused by drivers' failure to pay surcharges. The loss of a license makes it especially difficult for people with low income to get to work, making it harder for them to earn money to pay the surcharges. If these motorists get caught driving without a license, the surcharges just pile on.

Before it passes a surcharge bill, Maryland may want to look at the experience of its neighbor, Virginia. A motorist surcharge bill adopted there in 2007 was repealed just nine months later because of voters' outrage. The state also ended up refunding any money residents had paid.