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Reduced traffic fine program to begin
By Gordon Dritschilo
Staff Writer | August 30,2016
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Thousands of Vermonters will have the chance to get their driver’s licenses back starting Thursday.
The driver restoration program will let people with unpaid fines for old traffic tickets apply for reduced fines of $30 per ticket. Once the reduced fines are paid, they can have license suspensions for nonpayment lifted.
The program runs Sept. 1 through Nov. 30. Judgment must have been entered on the tickets prior to July 1, 2012.
The application form is available online at vermontjudiciary.org, at the Vermont Judicial Bureau in White River Junction, or at Department of Motor Vehicles offices in Bennington, Montpelier, Newport, Rutland, South Burlington and Springfield.
Chauncey Liese, section chief of the suspension and reinstatement unit at DMV, said he did not want to predict the turnaround time on the requests.
“Obviously, it depends on volume — how many people apply at once, how many tickets they have and our regular workload,” he said. “A person with one open traffic ticket — that’s not going to take that long at all.”
Even for people with a lot of tickets, Liese said, he did not anticipate a lengthy process.
Liese also emphasized that despite rumors to the contrary, the program was a one-time offering.
“This is it,” he said. “We want folks to take advantage of it.”
The Vermont Judicial Bureau and DMV estimate that about 40,000 Vermonters are eligible. The program was built from a pilot conducted by former Chittenden County state’s attorney T.J. Donovan.
“I, along with a lot of others, wasn’t sure what to expect on that cold March day,” Chris Curtis, an attorney with Vermont Legal Aid, said of the pilot program.
Curtis, who went on to lobby for taking the program statewide, said the result was a mile-long line of people looking to participate.
“That, to me, struck a chord and told me this was a problem that needed to be solved,” he said.
Curtis called the program a “good first step,” but said it was also important that the state make sure low-income Vermonters with multiple traffic tickets know there are programs that allow them to pay the fines in installments to avoid losing their licenses for nonpayment.
“It’s a victory for Vermonters who were getting caught up in a poverty trap of getting a ticket, not being able to pay the fine and having fines pile up,” he said.
Curtis resisted the suggestion that it was giving some drivers a special deal, noting that the points system for traffic offenses remained in place.
“If you get over 10 points on your license, your license is going away,” he said. “It’s not a free pass. In a rural state like Vermont, you’ve got to be able to drive. If, frankly, we’re going to have drivers out there anyway, we want them licensed and insured.”
Let's release all the people incarcerated next. 40,000 clowns in Vermont that can speed but can't pay their fines for 4 years? I bet they have no problem buying their beer, cigarettes, dope and heroin. This isn't about poverty. It is about obeying the law and obviously Vermonters have lost their way.
ReplyDeleteAmen
DeleteMake no mistake, this is about appealing to under achievers and scofflaws during election season. Unable to justify their reelection by a decrease in healthcare costs and a prosperous economy, shameless liberals will resort to buying votes any way they can. You have a choice this November, don't blow it. But this isn't even the worst of it. You now can legally drive in Vermont as an illegal alien!
DeleteGood things come to those who wait !!!
ReplyDeletenow that they can drive,they can work,give them a year then make them pay the original fine,to much free stuff in this stae
ReplyDeletethe only people I know of who lost their license for DLS were people who were at the bottom of the ladder-- either working for sub-minimum wage or under the table, who couldn't afford insurance, got nabbed and had the choice of quitting their job or sneaking to it. Some of them got doubly screwed-- A) told that yes, now that they had the money to get reinstated, they went to DVM in Montpelier with the cash, only to be told there were other hoops they had to jump through. B) and as violators, the only insurance they could now purchase until the record was cleared, was a super-expensive sort (titled 399 maybe?) that insured that whatever sort of job they had, they were going to stay at the bottom of the ladder.
ReplyDeleteOf course, our insurance system is perfect (look at health coverage), so there's nothing we should do about this. Government has no business empowering Vermonters at the bottom of the economic ladder, much less protecting them.
Chuck, the pain and suffering the driver had to go through to regain their license was CAUSED by the very government you want to solve all their problems. Maybe they should look inward for answers instead.
DeleteSo basically, they are going to get their licenses reinstated, just so they can still continue to roam around without insurance - which, really doesn't cost a whole lot. I have an old car with liability insurance and the premium on it is $200 a year. And there isn't any hoops to jump through - they are clearly listed on their website, as well as notices sent to them at the address they provided to begin with.
DeleteI am so tired of people who do not pay what they owe getting breaks so they can "restart" their lives. Whether its people not paying their property taxes or not paying driving fines... enough. I'm tired of my tax money going to let these people off the hook.
ReplyDeleteIf we did it for Wall Street, why can't we do it for people on Main Street? It's like those bookkeepers who go to jail for filching $20,000. If they'd stolen $20 million, they'd be running for President.
DeleteAnother sign that government wipes it's feet on the silent majority comprised of hard working, law abiding, responsible taxpayers while rewarding the slackards at every opportunity. The government views that silence as golden, since it permits perpetual exploitation of the taxpayer.
ReplyDelete