Posted on 02/21/2006 7:31:59 AM PST by getsoutalive
New laws allow some states to tax drivers annually -- even if they live in another state -- simply because they received a speeding ticket. One Connecticut motorist, who asked that his name not be used, discovered this after driving in October in Niagara Falls, New York. Despite being caught in what he considered a brazen speed trap -- the speed limit was 45 MPH where he was caught, but 55 MPH at the same location in the opposite direction -- he accepted the $155 fine for driving 72 MPH thinking by paying the matter would be settled.
Last week, however, the state of New York notified him that it now considers him an "at risk" driver and therefore he must either pay the state an annual $100 tax or a lump sum of $300.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenewspaper.com ...
Drivers make mistakes all the time. Any state that treats it's guests with outrageous ponzi revenue schemes is not worth visiting anyhow.
This has to be nipped in the bud at the USSC.
Wow.. a blue state figuring out how to "tax" folks without representation.... who would have thunk it? /sarcasm
I guess I was wrong about the 3 years, myself. In MI it's only 2. I'd not heard of this before last month.
I personally don't consider 8 points on your record "just a few" which is when the VA tax would kick in (if it gets thru the house).....with that said, I'm not saying I approve of the legislation, but that "just a few" comment is plain wrong.
I didn't pay it and 13 years later continue to renew every year in my home state.
Oh, I didn't read the bill. I didn't realize it didn't kick in until you had 8 points.
like those convicted of driving while drunk ...
I wonder when they will add - or smoking a cigarette?
If he lives in a different state, how can NY enforce this? I would ignore it.
Kind of like this - Ohio has a law that says vehicles must have a license plate on the front and back of the vehicle. Michigan only gives us one plate for the back. Several years ago I got pulled over in Ohio and was given a ticket for not having a plate on the front of my car. When I argued that I couldn't possibly have a second plate because Michigan didn't issue them, I was told "Too bad - we do"!
Please don't give them any more bright ideas........
Sounds to me like they're (well, in this case "we're") getting ready for all-the-time GPS tracking of all vehicles.
OMG - you should have fought that. PA has only one plate as well. I grew up minutes from the PA line. You would see as many PA cars as OH cars. This is the first time I have ever heard of this bogus trap.
This is not something I would pay. Ever.
Where's the Commerce "Clause" on this?
If a state can't impose extra duties on out-of-state trash at landfills how then can a state impose driving taxes on a driver who lives in another state?
More bloated, cancerous government.
If you had State Farm, you wouldn't have had a problem, just call your agent and he'll bring the proof to you while the cop waits around and also your high blood pressure medicine if we were to believe their sappy T.V. commercials.
Because it is listed as a "fine" not a tax is probably how they can do it. I know it's just semantics, but you know they will find anyway they can to get around pesky things such as the Commerce Clause........
Any time you get a speeding ticket where you have reason to believe that the posted limit is below a safe speed you should ask the officer and the court if they can provide you with a copy or a reading of the last official traffic survey on that stretch of highway that supports the lower speed as necessary.
Where does it say that? He could just as easily have been doing less than what the cop wrote him for. When its your word versus the word of the cop, guess who wins?
As another poster stated, this deserves a test case.
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