Is your driver’s license valid? It may not be. In the last 28 months, New York issued nearly 1.7 million driver’s license suspensions for not paying traffic tickets. That is nearly two thirds of all license suspensions in New York.
New York State lawmakers are saying enough is enough. A new bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter and co-sponsored by Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein seeks to amend the vehicle and traffic law so that drivers who owe unpaid fines will not face arbitrary license suspension.
“License suspension has significant adverse consequences,” said Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein. “Without a driver’s license a person cannot drive to work or to school or even to court to pay their fine. It’s an unfair and unjust practice that’s been going on for too long and I’m proud to be co-sponsoring Assemblywoman Hunter’s legislation.”
Currently, those who continue to drive with a suspended licenses, even unknowingly, risk criminal charges and more unaffordable fines and fees. Assemblyman Eichenstein pointed out that this is totally unnecessary and unproductive. Instead, this legislation would end traffic debt suspensions and make affordable payment plans available to help pay fees that are owed. That would considerably reduce prosecution and arrests, allowing law enforcement and the courts to focus on more serious crimes and on drivers who pose an actual danger on the roads.
This proposed legislation is gaining momentum in the State Assembly, as legislators are eager to see license suspensions curtailed.
“Let’s keep our safe and responsible drivers on the roads instead of being embroiled in needless and wasteful court appearances,” said Assemblyman Eichenstein. “This new legislation would represent a victory for all New York drivers.”
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9 Responses
“ Let’s keep our safe and responsible drivers on the roads instead of being embroiled in needless and wasteful court appearances,” said Assemblyman Eichenstein.”
Is this guy an idiot? If they were safe and responsible drivers they wouldn’t be getting tickets.
If you can’t drive responsibly then yeah, you lose your license. The facts are simple, drive responsibly, don’t get tickets, no fines to pay, don’t lose your license. And if you lose your license you take mass transit like most people in NYC.
How would it “represent a victory for all New York drivers?” Presumably most drivers who get tickets pay them.
Good luck with that
Violence = free cash bail
Moving violation = suspension of license if not paid
This reminds me of “Bail Reform”—another license to kill. Let’s get dangerous drivers of the road now.
This is the same mentality that brought us bail reform. I’m all for payment plans, but otherwise, either pay the ticket or get your license suspended. It would help if everyone just grew up.
The bill that Assemblyman Eichenstein supports is a thumb in the eye of decent people (like me) who pay their tickets promptly (most of mine are for parking, not moving violations that are a threat to life), or after the second or third notice. It is also an attack on a valuable source of revenue that must be made up for by people who pay all their lawful taxes. Eichenstein is an enabler of criminals – a shonda.
But the proliferation of toaiva demands and protective law doesn’t seem to bother this chusid. Very telling.
Totally absurd. I guess the same should apply if I don’t pay my mortgage or electric bill. Tuition? Credit card bills? Just let it slide. Let the government take care of it. And we pay this guys salary?! WE are the idiots.
Paying a fine doesn’t make someone a safer driver, and not paying it doesn’t make someone less safe a driver. The same driver, with the same tickets, is just as safe whether he pays or not. So suspending a license not for the violation but for failure to pay is not a safety measure but a revenue collection measure. And given how vital a license is to many people it’s an unreasonable measure.
Should a person’s license also be suspended for not paying his electricity bill, or his tuition bill?! Of course not. So why are traffic fines different? Why can you run up a $1000 bill at the supermarket and still drive, but a $200 traffic ticket makes you an unsafe driver?!
Milhouse: sorry, wrong. No one has the right to drive a car, if you owe fines because you speed, run red lights and can’t park legally then yeah, you do not deserve to drive. Walk or ride a bike.