Politics or Protection? Speeding Tickets in Relation to Municipal Payments

According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association’s (GHSA) “Survey of the States: Speeding” report, the majority of respondents to the survey reported a public perception that there is a five to ten mile cushion above the posted speed limit at which police offers will not normally issue a ticket. Though a common consensus, this belief will not hold water in traffic court, were an increased number of individuals could very well soon find themselves. Though the “Survey of the States: Speeding” report does make a valid and strong argument for the necessity of speeding fines to create a disincentive for reckless driving, it does not hide the strong incentive the government faces to encourage an increase in the number of speeding tickets issued. With the decrease in municipal funds, the state government must find new ways to increase the revenue of the states, and speeding tickets ironically seem to be the “ticket”. Several studies and reports provide reliable information to support this theory.

Thomas A. Garrett of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Professor Gary A. Wagner of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock teamed up to research the correlation between the amount of revenue and the number of speeding tickets issued for the state of North Carolina. Their study, “Red Ink in the Rear View Mirror: Local Fiscal Conditions and the Issuance of Traffic Tickets”, found that there was no evidence to prove that a decrease in revenue causes an increase in traffic tickets. This is shown by the fact that as revenues decreased, the amount of speeding tickets issued increased, yet as revenues increased, the amount of speeding tickets issued did not decrease (as would be expected if the two factors possessed a correlation with one another). However, there is clearly a relationship between the two, and in fact the researchers concluded that a one percent decrease in the government’s revenue resulted in roughly a 0.32 percent increase in the number of traffic tickets issued.

The research by Garrett and Wagner is supported in other reports as well and for more than just the state of North Carolina. An article by Joshua Rhett Miller of Fox News, “Speeding, Parking Tickets on Rise as Government Revenue Source”, uncovered that several governmental officials looked to increases in traffic tickets as a source of replacement income for deficits in the state budget. There are also steep increases in the costs of tickets, including a thirty-five dollar increase in surcharge fees of traffic tickets for California drivers.

When it boils down to it, government officials must constantly vie for their seats, and one way to assure their positions is to increase or stabilize funds for their region. The current economic conditions do not make this an easy task. The governments must find a way to raise funds some way, and since the traditional method of raising taxes would be unreasonable at this point in time, evidence indicates that they are turning to some less traditional, or less traditionally recognized, methods of raising municipal funds.

So what does this mean for drivers? This could mean a necessary increase in precaution for many in more than one way. Unfortunately, one’s income or economic status is not considered when a speeding ticket is issued; everyone must pay the same fees and charges allotted for a specific violation. So hypothetically, John Blow, the janitor, who supports his entire family with his income, will have to struggle to pay the same speeding ticket fee as Bobby Law, a partner in a million dollar franchise, who can pay off the ticket without a sweat. Add on the increase in the ticket fees and the situation becomes even more heinous. There is also an increased concern with a decrease in security. In the Fox News article, Miller spoke to Bonnie Sesolak, the development director of the National Motorists Association, who expressed her concerns about safety. With the police focusing more on traffic violations, their attention will be spread and they therefore will not be focusing their energy on more serious and threatening situations that demand a great amount of attention. These conditions could lead to far greater detrimental outcomes for some individuals than a below average municipal fund for the state.

With all of the supporting evidence, it is clear that a decrease in municipal revenue is supplemented by an increase in traffic fines, including speeding tickets. As aggravating and seemingly unjust as this may be, it would not be easy to separate the use of speeding tickets for municipal purposes versus for purposes of limiting reckless driving. Even with all of the evidence, no governmental official will admit encouraging the increase of police issuing speeding tickets to increase the states funds. It would appear the only sure fire way to avoid being swept up in the hypocrisy would be to just play it safe and obey the speeding limit.