Dalton Georgia Police Dept to Participate in “Click It or Ticket”

Posted on May 15, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

Dalton Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, along with the Patrol Division will step up its efforts in enforcing Georgia’s Seatbelt and Child Restraint laws, in conjunction with the nation wide “Click it or Ticket” campaign that will run from May 19-June 1. The first nationwide traffic enforcement campaign of the year will include the upcoming Memorial Day Holiday.

“Click It or Ticket” is a nationwide enforcement campaign to increase seat belt usage, and to reduce serious injury or fatal car crashes. Research data from 2006 shows that 72-percent of passenger vehicle occupants involved in serious car crashes nationwide survived when wearing their seat belts correctly. Seat belts have proven to reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45-percent.

The current statewide seat belt usage in the state of Georgia is at 90%, the highest in the Southeast. The most recent seat belt usage survey conducted in April 2008 by the Dalton Police Department showed that Dalton’s seatbelt usage stood at 90%.

The Dalton Police Department will be holding a Child Car Seat Check from 3-6 p.m. on Saturday, May 24, in conjunction with “Click It or Ticket. The car seat check is free to the public.

On hand to check child car seats will be technicians from Whitfield County Chapter of Safe Kids along with technicians from Dalton Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit and Patrol Division. Technicians will help parents of children with the correct installation and use of Child Car Safety Seats, or inspect installed seats to insure they are not damaged or out of date.

Also participating in the car seat check will be trucks from the Dalton Fire Department, an ambulance from Whitfield EMS and the Mobile Command Unit from Whitfield County 911 Center.

The Dalton Police Department is asking all motorists to make this Memorial Day Holiday a safe one by obeying all speed limits, buckling up and to not drink and drive.

Article from Chatanoogan.com

Georgia Speeding Ticket Laws

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Georgia State Patrol Cuts Gas Costs

Posted on May 6, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

In an interesting story from TV 11 in Atlanta, reporter Kevin Rowson notes that even the law enforcement agencies have been hit by the high price at the pump. In an effort to keep up the steady stream of revenue generated by speeding tickets and other traffic tickets in the state of Georgia, yet conserve on gas, the Georgia State Highway patrol has taken to getting off the roads and using radar and laser detection to catch offenders. According to this report, it seems to be working.

High gas prices hit some people harder than others. Not many get hit as hard as the law enforcement agency that patrols our state roads. Because of that, the Georgia State Patrol is trying to conserve fuel without cutting enforcement. So far, it seems to be working.

Senior Trooper Larry Schnall is on the road all day, like most of his fellow troopers. You can probably imagine how gas prices can add up. Because of the recent conservation efforts he says fuel consumption has been cut significantly.

“Basically what we’re trying to do is encourage our enforcement officers to simply take alternate areas of patrol, discretionary patrols,” Trooper Schnall said.

What that means is troopers won’t be simply driving around I-285 all day long. You will see more of them stopped on the side of the road running radar and laser.

“You could be visible, stop car after car for speeding and still save miles rather than riding around,” Trooper Schnall said.

He said troopers will be doing more checkpoints for sobriety and licenses. Those efforts will not only cut mileage but also cut wear and tear on patrol cars.

Trooper Schnall says the cutbacks in mileage will have no affect enforcement.

“Public safety’s not gonna be affected at all we’re still out here doing our job, we’re just taking a proactive approach to reduce miles, save fuel and money,” Schnall said.

The Georgia State Patrol is taking other measures too. They are car-pooling to training. They are also switching the grade of gasoline they put in their cars from mid-level to regular unleaded. That will save the agency at least ten cents a gallon.

“Our experts have shown that there’s no damage to the vehicle so using the regular unleaded, our vehicles are not going to suffer,” he said.

The conservation measures have been in place since the first of the year. Schnall said they have already noticed a low-end savings on fuel of 15 percent. Some have saved as much as 25 percent. Those were the goals Georgia State Patrol hoped to reach when they implemented the conservation measures.

Kevin Rowson – 11alive.com

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Speeding citations cease in Midville

Posted on May 1, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

No one is accusing Midville of being a speed trap these days.

Not one speeding ticket has been written by the town’s police department in the past eight months, according to city records.

Less than three years ago, some 122 residents of the small town, which boasts a lone caution light, signed a petition stating that local police were op- erating a speed trap.

An investigation by the Georgia Department of Public Safety cleared the town after finding that only 22 percent of the police department’s budget came from speeding tickets. Forty percent constitutes a speed trap.

But, now, that number has dwindled to zero.

The last traffic citation was written just before Brian McDuffie resigned as chief in July 2007.

Current chief Byron Walker came on the job in November, but because he is not certified by the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Council, he cannot write tickets.

Burke County Magistrate Court Chief Judge Curt St. Germaine said his office has not held court in Midville since September of last year.

City council voted two weeks ago to place Walker on administrative leave without pay until he earns his POST certification.

In the meantime, the town is being lightly patrolled by parttime officer Robert Baynham.

Baynham is POST certified as an officer but said he has not written a speeding ticket since he joined the Midville Police Department in 2005.

He said he needs a radar certification card from POST to operate radar but does not have one.

However, Azra Keeling, of POST’s records department, said Baynham has been radarcertified since November 2006.

Council member Sam Cummings said he would be sure to look into the issue.

Though there is not a fulltime police presence in Midville, Cummings said Burke County Sheriff’s deputies routinely patrol the city. He added the Wadley Police Department would be on call if needed.

By Anne Marie Kyzer, truecitizen.com

Georgia Speeding Ticket Points

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Top Priority Is Making Sure Fayette County GA Is A Safe

Posted on April 28, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

One of the issues I hear about most frequently from citizens in our community is concern about crime and public safety.

One of the primary reasons Fayette County Georgia has such a prosperous past and present is our low crime rate. Parents feel secure raising their children in this community, which has led to us having an extraordinarily family-oriented citizenry in Fayette County.

I was raised in Fayette County and I am now raising my own children in Fayette County. As a legislator, one of my top priorities is ensuring our community continues to be a safe place to live.

The growth of our county has certainly brought challenges that have made the jobs of our local law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges more challenging. It is vital these individuals have every tool possible to continue keeping our community safe from crime.

When I was elected in December I requested the House leadership place me on the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee, as this is the committee that authors all of the criminal justice legislation in the House.

I was excited when this request was granted because it put me in a position to have a very hands-on role in shaping public safety legislation during this session of the General Assembly.
With the session just having wrapped up, I am pleased to report we passed several pieces of legislation now awaiting the Governor’s signature that will enhance the safety and security of our children and community.

There is nothing more frightening as a parent than the thought of a criminal targeting your child. Our Committee passed and the General Assembly adopted several pieces of legislation aimed at providing our children additional protections from predators. First, we enacted legislation that will make it unlawful for convicted sex offenders to photograph minors without the explicit consent of the minor’s parents.

The same legislation included a provision that would further prohibit any convicted sex offender from living or working within 1000 feet of places where minors congregate, such as schools and day care centers.

This session we also passed legislation to provide additional protections for children from predators that would seek out victims via the internet. SB 474 requires the Department of Education to develop and implement a program to teach internet safety to children.

The same legislation includes a provision that requires internet providers to make available to parents commercially available technology to monitor their children’s internet activity and block access to undesirable internet sites. These new laws will provide parents and law enforcement officials assistance in the effort to protect our children from those that would do them harm.
Georgia is one of the only states in the country that does not have a felony statute for multiple DUI offenders.

Under current law, an individual can get multiple DUI convictions without the crime ever being elevated above a misdemeanor. House Bill 336, which was authored in my committee and was passed by the House and Senate, provides that fourth and all subsequent DUI convictions will be felonies in the State of Georgia. This will ensure these multiple offenders will be punished in a manner that is appropriate for the crime of repeatedly endangering the lives of Georgia’s driving public.
The arrest and guilty plea of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has brought attention to the barbaric practice of dog fighting.

I do not think anyone could have imagined that such a horrific activity was still prevalent in our society.

This session the General Assembly passed legislation that will bring tough new penalties for not only individuals engage in dog fighting, but also the spectators that attend such events. Civilized society cannot include such a brutal and corrupt practice as dog fighting and this new law sends a strong message that it will not be tolerated in Georgia.

This is just a sampling of the criminal justice legislation enacted this session by the General Assembly in an effort to enhance the safety of the citizens of Georgia. We are blessed in Fayette County to have dedicated and vigilant public safety officers. As long as I am in the state legislature, I will work to provide those on the front line of law enforcement with every possible tool in the effort to keep our community a safe and wonderful place to live and raise our children.

Matt Ramsey, Fayette County News, Today in Peachtree City

Fayette County GA DUI

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Danger Brings 2nd Red Light Camera in Rome Georgia

Posted on April 21, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

Rome’s next red light cameras are expected to be installed at what appears to be the city’s most dangerous intersection, according to wreck figures compiled by the Rome News-Tribune.

Although a date still has not been set for the installation of red light cameras at Martha Berry Boulevard and Veterans Memorial Highway, the intersection had more wrecks than any other of the city’s most dangerous crossings from January 2007 through February 2008.

Kirk Milam, city public services manager, said Rome is still awaiting approval from the state Department of Transportation to install the cameras.

The city’s only existing red light camera is on Turner McCall Boulevard and Hicks Drive near Kmart. That intersection is the second most dangerous intersection with 66 wrecks over the study period.

March 17, the City Commission approved installation of the second set of red light cameras.

According to the Rome Police Department’s monthly traffic accident reports from January 2007 through February 2008, the Martha Berry intersection recorded 69 wrecks.

Any wreck within approximately 100 feet of the intersection is included in the city police department count.

Nearly 70 percent of the accidents reported at that particular intersection resulted from drivers following too closely and only four were due to a red light violation.

The existing cameras help step up traffic enforcement at areas during specific times without requiring police to dedicate personnel to the task, said Maj. Travis Goss, with the Rome Police Department.

“You couldn’t imagine the manpower we’d need to monitor the lights and catch all those people who run these lights over and over again,” Goss said.

Now the camera snaps a picture of the vehicle, and its owner will get a fine in the mail based on the license plate number.

In 2000, before the state allowed municipalities to install red light cameras, Goss and a fellow officer traveled to Perry for a red light camera demonstration.

“During that demonstration we learned the primary goal was to reduce accidents or injuries,” Goss said, “that the city of Rome did not put these cameras up for profit.”

Goss said he believes once drivers become accustomed to going the proper speed limit through busy intersections, then they slow down and the need to run a red light doesn’t exist.

“You can stop at a reasonable amount of time without slamming on your breaks … people just don’t drive the speed limit,” he said.

Goss added that although the number of crashes at an intersection with red light cameras may not decrease, the severity of the wrecks do.

He said they are seeing more minor wrecks where bumpers are scuffed up rather than passenger-side impacts or head-on collisions at Turner McCall Boulevard and Hicks Drive.

Red-light camera background/costs

The city began photographing red-light runners at the intersection of Hicks and Turner McCall on July 12, 2004.

It previously paid up front for the expensive pieces of technology and equipment at Hicks and Turner McCall, an estimated $150,000 for each camera.

The cameras were paid for by a grant Rome received from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Milam said the city would lease the new red light cameras at Martha Berry and the bypass.

According to the city’s contract with Redflex Traffic Systems, it will pay a fixed fee of $3,950 per month for each designated intersection approach at the loop intersection.

Unlike the cameras at Hicks and Turner McCall, which photograph only drivers running the light through Turner McCall, the new red light cameras will photograph drivers in every direction at Martha Berry and Veterans Memorial.

The fee, which is slightly higher than the $3,450 per month currently paid at the intersection of Hicks and Turner McCall, will include service and equipment costs.

When motorists are photographed running the red light, they each receive a $70 notice of violation.

Between 2005 and 2007, the city finance department has collected $557,635 through the red light fines.

Rome City Manager John Bennett said the city collected $33,780 in January and February this year. The revenue for March has not yet been calculated.

The costs of citations at the new intersection will remain the same.

After monthly expenses for maintenance and processing of the images are paid, the profit will still be used to pay for traffic safety improvement and traffic-related safety projects.

In a previous interview, Milam said the Sidewalk Improvement Program has funded things such as the construction project in front of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce and Carnegie Building on Broad Street, in a West Rome residential area on Brookwood Avenue where the city provided connectivity for West Central Elementary School, and construction on Elm Street and Lyons Drive.

Prior to 2007, the fine for running the red lights was $84.

The $14 add-on fees were sent to the state between August 2004 and July 2005, until the state attorney general’s office ruled law did not authorize the extra charge.

Bennett said the city refunded approximately $42,000 to drivers who originally paid the additional $14 for the citation, although the state did not reimburse the city.

DANGEROUS INTERSECTIONS

The following is a list of the most dangerous intersections in the city of Rome. The wreck numbers are from January 2007 through February 2008:

Martha Berry Boulevard at Veterans Memorial Highway — 69

Turner McCall Boulevard at Hicks Drive/Riverbend — 66

Shorter Avenue at Redmond Road/Coosawattee — 65

Turner McCall Boulevard at Martha Berry/Second Avenue — 63

Redmond Circle at Garden Lakes Boulevard/Mathis Drive — 47

Shorter Avenue at Division Street — 25

Turner McCall Boulevard at Broad Street — 22

Second Avenue at Broad Street — 22

U.S. 411 at Callier Springs Road — 21

Ga. 53 at Veterans Memorial Highway — 21

Article by Lindsay Field, Rome News-Tribune Staff Reporter

GA Traffic Laws

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Fourth DUI Should Be Felony in Georgia

Posted on April 17, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

During debate on Georgia’s drunken driving laws, state Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville) pointed out that if caught shoplifting four times in Georgia, the offender is eligible to be punished as a felon.

“But,” he said, “if you get caught six times with a DUI, you are not a felon.”

Georgia remains one of the few states without a felony DUI statute. House Bill 336, sponsored by state Rep. Kevin Levitas (D-Atlanta), would change that.

It creates a felony-level DUI for repeat offenders who rack up four convictions within 10 years and mandates that repeat offenders serve at least 90 days in jail. Current law treats a fourth DUI as a misdemeanor.

As a former prosecutor, Levitas says he worried more about the dangers to the general public posed by drunken drivers than by murderers. “Sadly, in murders the people often knew each other, but there is a randomness to a DUI where a car suddenly comes across the lane of a highway and hits someone going to church or school.”

Levitas cites research that on average, people drive drunk 87 times before being caught in a DUI. “It’s appropriate for the fourth conviction to be a felony,” he says.

HB 336 not only increases fines and jail time, it requires a clinical evaluation and any necessary treatment upon a first conviction, which law does not now demand.

“My goal is that no one ever gets to a fourth offense,” says Levitas. “But after three times where you have been convicted and received treatment and evaluation, if there is a fourth time, we have to have public safety foremost in our minds.”

The legislation is endorsed by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and the state District Attorney’s Association.

“If you have someone who is going to drive drunk and you’ve had them in state court three times already, it’s time to get their attention,” says Lowndes County District Attorney David Miller, on behalf of the association.

“We can actually change people’s lives with a bill like this.”

Maureen Downey, AJC.com (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Georgia DUI Laws

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GA Officials Keep Eye On Traffic Cameras In Augusta

Posted on April 13, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

In the early morning hours Tuesday, traffic engineers, police and the occasional helicopter pilot gathered in Westside High School’s auditorium to watch thousands of Masters Tournament ticket-holders flood Richmond County’s roadways on their way to the Augusta National.

Ten slow-scan cameras fed a steady stream of images showing bumper to bumper traffic to flat-screen TVs set up inside the makeshift base off Washington Road.

It’s from there team members monitor the traffic level and adjust signal times to let more cars through, according to Richmond County Traffic Engineer Steve Cassell. But keeping the public abreast of any changes is their most important task.

“The more information you can get out to the public, the better they can make route decisions,” Mr. Cassell said.

Traffic officials said Tuesday that, for the most part, traffic was running smoothly.

“They’re a little better than this time yesterday,” Georgia Department of Transportation Traffic Engineer James “Jimmy” Smith said Tuesday. “More people seem to be using the right-turn lanes into Stanley (Drive).”

The team continues to adjust to changes brought on by the introduction of a 2,500 space parking lot off Stanley Drive this year. An electronic sign was recently moved to let drivers know there are now two right turn lanes into the parking lot, Mr. Cassell said.

It has been about 10 years since Mr. Smith and other engineers first sat down with Richmond County officials and convinced them to let the DOT help monitor Masters traffic. Before, signal control was the responsibility of sheriff’s deputies, who stood near the lights and changed times manually.

“They couldn’t coordinate, because they weren’t able to see the other signal,” said Mr. Smith, who remembers traffic so bad that at one point in the early 1990s it stretched from Washington Road to the Belair Road exit on I-20.

Now, with the aid of computer software programs and up-to-date reports from Georgia State Patrol helicopters that fly over the thoroughfares, the entire corridor can be monitored and controlled, Mr. Smith said.

“A couple of weeks ago we were talking about it and I said if we do our job, nobody will know we were there, and if we don’t, everybody will know my middle name,” he said.

Adam Folk, Staff Writer

Augusta.com

Traffic Ticket in August GA?

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Georgia Department Of Transportion To Drivers: When You See Roadside Work, Slow Down!

Posted on April 10, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

If Georgia Department of Transportation employees could say one thing to the drivers who fly past their roadside work zones, it would be: “Slow down —it won’t kill you.”

But, they’d add, you could get hurt.

Commuters might be surprised to learn they are 85 percent more likely to be injured driving through a work zone than the workers themselves. Not to mention the sting of a pricey speeding ticket, which can go as high as $2,000.

The GDOT workers themselves are well aware of the dangers of the road. More than 50 have lost their lives over the past 30-plus years, while making roadway improvements.

It’s an irony that can grate on you, says Buford native Josh Cofer, 30. The project manager has most recently been working at the massive interchange of I-85 and Ga. 316, which is 80 percent complete. The next big piece to open before year’s end will be the northbound collector distributor system, a mirror of the southbound lanes that opened in October.

“They don’t understand when we’re in the road, we’re trying to help them get where they need to go safer, and faster,” Cofer said. “The [speed limits] are as much for their safety as ours.”

Before spring and summer travel adds even more vehicles to Georgia’s busy roadways, the GDOT is trying to increase public awareness of why work zones require slower traffic.

Even though they’ve witnessed too often how little patience many drivers have.

Workers have been pelted with garbage from passing cars from drivers annoyed by lane closures or traffic tie-ups, said GDOT spokeswoman Teri Pope.

Seeders — oblivious that humans are working inches away, whether they can see them or not — have posed the biggest danger.

In 2003, the GDOT’s Randy Reece was killed instantly, Pope said, by a flatbed truck that didn’t slow down in a work zone on State Route 13 near Buford.

A contractor was maimed not long ago in another work zone, while he was just standing there. A lugnut flew off a passing truck with such force, it knocked the man’s ear clear off his head. (It couldn’t be reattached, Pope said, because it couldn’t be found.)

Another worker was injured by a speeding tractor trailer when a tire flew off and hit him so hard, it broke his leg.

“Work zones are our office,” Pope said. “We only do paperwork inside when it’s raining, and we can’t be out here. We’re out here most days, working with traffic whizzing by at 60, 70 and 80 miles per hour.”

Since drivers routinely ignore the slower speed limits posted at work zones, Pope said, fines are doubled for anyone caught speeding. The presence of blue lights — signaling police are handing out tickets, or just patrolling the area — seems to be the one thing that slows folks down.

Law enforcement officers were out in force on Wednesday morning on GA 316, just past the point where it branches off from I-85, handing out expensive reminders that contrary to driver habits, the speed limit in this busy work zone is 45 mph.

Article- Eileen Drennan, Atlanta Journal Constituion

AJC.com

Did you get a traffic ticket on GA 316?

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New School Zones May Mean More Radar Speeding Tickets For Peach Tree City GA Drivers

Posted on April 4, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

Hello, speeding tickets.

Drivers may soon have quite a few more school zones to tangle with, if several new and expanded zones are approved as expected by the Peachtree City Council Thursday night.

City staff is not only proposing the creation of eight new “school zones” on city streets, but also is increasing the length of eight of the 13 existing school zones.

A new zone will show up on busy Peachtree Parkway North near McIntosh High School, where now none exists.

That raises the probability of lots of new speeding tickets through expanded school zones, where radar-wielding officers can ticket you for going one mile per hour over the lowered speed limit.

That means, drive at 25 mph and you’re OK. Drive at 26 mph and you’ll be facing big fines.

Although Georgia law forbids local police officers from writing speeding tickets unless the recorded speed is more than 10 miles an hour over the posted limit, that law is waived for school zones, ranging from one hour before school starts until one hour after school ends.

To alert motorists, orange flags will be installed on each new school zone sign and no significant traffic enforcement is expected for the first 30 days after the new signs are installed, according to a memo from acting police chief Maj. Mike DuPree.

The proposed new school zones, which would reduce speeds from 30 mph to 25 mph are:

• NEW — On Kelly Drive near Huddleston Elementary from the Lake Peachtree bridge to a spot 400 feet east of Sweetgum; this zone is currently bound by a 30 mph limit;

• NEW — On Peachtree Parkway north near McIntosh High from 200 feet north of Walt Banks to 200 feet south of Stevens Entry; this zone is currently 30-35 mph;

• NEW — On Pinegate Road near Peachtree City Elementary from Riley Parkway to 600 feet north of Riley Parkway; this zone is currently rated at 30 mph;

• NEW — On Prime Point near McIntosh High from 50 feet east of Stevens Entry to 50 feet north of Ga. Highway 54; this zone is currently rated at 30 mph

• NEW — On Riley Parkway near Peachtree City Elementary from Flat Creek Road to Aberdeen Parkway; this zone is currently 30 mph;

• NEW — On Stevens Entry near McIntosh High from Ga. Highway 54 to Peachtree Parkway north; this zone is currently 30 mph;

• NEW — On Summit Walk near Oak Grove Elementary from Crown Point to 500 feet north of Crestwood; this zone is currently 30 mph; and

• NEW — On Waterwood Bend near Booth Middle School from 50 feet west of the southern intersection of Peachtree Parkway to 50 feet west of the northern intersection of Peachtree Parkway; this road is also currently 30 mph.

According to the staff memo to City Council on the subject, several of the new school zones wee necessary to cover multi-use path crossings that weren’t previously in a school zone.

Also the city will increase the length of eight existing speed zones as follows:

• Crosstown Drive for Oak Grove Elementary from .3 to .4 miles.

• Kedron Drive for Kedron Elementary from .3 to .4 miles.

• Log House Road for Oak Grove Elementary from .24 miles to .50 miles.

• McIntosh Trail for Huddleston Elementary from .45 to .65 miles.

• Peachtree Parkway south for Booth Middle from .26 to .50 miles.

• Robinson Road for Braelinn and Oak Grove elementary from .4 miles to 1.3 miles.

• Walt Banks Road for McIntosh High from .33 to .50 miles; and

• Wisdom Road for Peachtree City Elementary school from .3 to .4 miles.

According to the staff memo, the reason for increasing the size of existing school zones was to cover at least 200 feet from the boundary of the school or “cover the ‘common route’ to school by students.”

The city will send letters about the new school zones to parents at each school, and the new zones will be posted on the city’s website in addition to schools’ websites, DuPree said in the memo.

John Munford

TheCitizen.com

 Georgia Speeding Ticket Laws

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Increased Parking Fine Considered For Illegal Parking In Spaces Reserved For Disabled

Posted on March 29, 2008 by georgiatrafficlawyer

I don’t know if every Georgia citizen agrees, but there is nothing more annoying than observing a rushed parker who is disability free taking advantage of a close “Handicapped Parking” space. According to this article from AugustaChronicle.com, the Georgia General Assembly is going to make the practice more costly for those who are caught.

ATLANTA, GA— A proposal moving through the General Assembly might make Georgia drivers think twice about parking in spaces reserved for the disabled.

Senate Resolution 1074, which passed the House Civil Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, would add a 10 percent surcharge to the fine for illegally parking between the blue lines. That could mean an extra $10 to $50 a ticket for the violation, which currently draws a $100 to $500 fine.

The money brought in by the additional fine — along with similar charges for boating while intoxicated, reckless driving and riding a motorcycle without a helmet — would go to the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission, a state agency that helps pay bills that Medicaid or private insurance can’t or won’t pay.

Rusty Kidd, the chairman of the commission, said the extra charge is needed because the current method for funding the trust fund, a 10 percent charge on fines for driving under the influence, isn’t bringing in enough money. Part of that is because judges are willing to reduce DUI charges to reckless driving, he said.

At the same time, injured veterans returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq are part of an increase in the number of Georgians asking the commission for help.

“It’s not a tax increase, so to speak,” Mr. Kidd said. “It would be a surcharge on people who are violating the law.”

He pointed out that all the violations that would be subject to the surcharge are either likely to cause someone to need help from the trust fund or, in the case of the parking ticket, have a clear connection to laws meant to help disabled people.

The proposal is expected to bring in about $250,000 a year, Mr. Kidd said.

Some lawmakers are uneasy with the extra charges. Rep. Mark Hatfield, R-Waycross, said the General Assembly has begun relying too heavily on creating special surcharges for a variety of state needs instead of putting those items in the budget.

“I don’t think it’s right to dump the responsibility for funding something that’s a statewide concern on just a select group of people,” he said.

American Bikers Active Toward Education of Georgia, which has pushed for the state to get rid of laws requiring adults to wear helmets while riding a motorcycle, doesn’t oppose the measure, said Edward Andross, the group’s legislative director.

But he said ABATE was concerned that it backs up what the group considers a faulty assumption that motorcyclists who don’t wear helmets are more likely to end up costing the state money.

“This is just adding more fuel to the fire that if you don’t wear a helmet, you’re a burden … We’re not a burden to society,” he said.

Story by Brandon Larrabee, Morris News Service

Georgia Traffic Laws

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