Cops Slap Speeders With Fuel Surcharge

By Larry Copeland, USA Today
Posted: 2008-06-18 09:29:57
Filed Under: Nation News

HOLLY SPRINGS, Ga. (June 18) - The surging price of gasoline has come to this: a "fuel surcharge" on your next speeding ticket.

Drivers caught speeding in this north Atlanta suburb soon will have to pay an extra $12 - to cover $4-a-gallon gas costs for the police officers who stop them.

The City Council passed the fee hike, effective July 1, to offset fuel prices that have eaten up nearly 60% of the police department's 2008 fuel budget, Police Chief Ken Ball says.

He expects the fee increase, which applies to all moving violations and can be rescinded if gas prices fall below $3 a gallon, to generate $19,500 to $26,000 a year for the town of 7,700.

Ball says he was seeking ways to maintain patrols despite record high gas prices. "I was hearing that Delta (Air Lines), pizza deliverers, florists were adding fuel charges to their services, and I thought, why not police departments?" he says.

Atlanta might be next. Monday, the City Council approved by a 13-0 vote Councilman C.T. Martin's proposal to add a $10-$15 surcharge for motorists convicted of speeding and other moving violations, Martin says. "I want to recover the cost of the extra gas -- without raising property taxes," he says. The legislation awaits Mayor Shirley Franklin's approval.

Other cities could follow. Ball says he's being "inundated" by calls from police chiefs and city managers. "I've heard from at least a dozen police chiefs and half a dozen city managers," he says of the measure passed Monday night. "They want to know how we did it, and could we send them a copy of the ordinance."

Wendy Balazik, spokeswoman for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, says she's not aware of any other cities adding such a surcharge. "But it makes sense," she says. "Law enforcement agencies are already facing a number of financial pressures, and rising fuel costs can't help the situation at all."

The National League of Cities says it is unaware of other cities adding such fees.

The national average cost for a gallon of regular gas was $4.078 Tuesday, according to auto club AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Katie Harris, 20, a babysitter and student at Georgia Perimeter College, doesn't like the new fines. "It always seems like government officials are trying to take money from citizens' pockets," she says.

Holly Springs Mayor Tim Downing says: "This is a self-taxing system. If you don't break the law, you don't pay the tax."

 

I hope the idea doesn't spread...

 

ROFL

wow I would have never thought up something like this, and I think of so much different things.

 

hmmm. I'll have to be sure I get my money's worth on my next ticket. If I'm paying an additional fee, I'm going to make sure they burn some gas!

 

Now, if you can get a car chase going and can get the whole department out with air cover for $12.

 

So it will take them 3 gallons to stop a car? dam, that's a gas guzzler... I guess we found the culprit for who used all our gas. We should file a law suit to make them change to Priuses and drop the fine to a few cents... lol

 

everyone would accelerate them..prius goes 0-60 in like 10.5 seconds and maxes out a little over 100 haha...

 

Haha, the government and stupid politician's to blame for all this mess and now they use their own mess up as a justification to tax us more.

If Police uses Prius then its all over, no one would ever get pull over anymore, or you can keep stop and go really quick to drain his gas and electric motor

 

Stop using Crown Vics. Problem solved.

 

Yeah, you heard Bush's trying to drill for more oil? While they're saying Earth is running out of oil but they now want to run it out faster? wtf!? Either drill for more oil and tell us we've got a lot more oil than we'll be using or don't drill and tell us we have to use less cars.

 

^^^ So if we don't drill for any more oil ever again, exactly how will that help ??

 

Not that we don't ever, but just conserve and use carefully. Just like if you're running out of money in the bank, what are your choices? use all the money that's left quickly and die of hunger, or use little and try to survive?

That's if we're running out of oil... But the fact that Bush saying we should drill for oil does that mean there's still many untapped resources out there?

 

I read online Bush want to drill in arctic refuge in Alaska and shale, but all the oil in there American will use all up in 6 months max. USA have no much oil.

 

#)$#) Georgia...

 

Here's a better idea, how about cut the amount of STATE TROOPERS Such as a simple solution to a stupid problem. All I ever see state troopers do is sit on the highway tagging and pulling people over. You take a couple of those pigs off the side of the road, and BAM you have cut your costs in the extra gas spent. Problem solved, happier civilians.

Or heres another brilliant idea. Cut out completely smaller speeding tickets, instead making people just take a class instead of hitting them in the pocket, even folks will get tired of going to the classes. And just hit people heavily on the bigger tickets, or if they cause accidents. BAM, another problem solved. However that would be in the peoples favor, and the local governments wouldn't be pulling in as much money. BOO HOO.