Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 08-13-2007, 04:28 AM
 
Location: Michigan
29,391 posts, read 55,618,997 times
Reputation: 22044

Advertisements

The labor pains were coming, so Jessica Hodges got going. The 26-year-old bank teller from Burke sped toward Inova Fairfax Hospital, but before she got there, the law got her -- 57 mph in a 35 zone. Reckless driving.

Hodges's labor pains subsided -- they turned out to be a false alarm -- but the agony from her ticket is mounting. She was found guilty of the July 3 offense and given a $1,050 civil fee on top of a judge-imposed $100 fine and court costs, making her one of the first to be hit with Virginia's new "abusive driver fees," which have been greeted by widespread public outrage.

"It's crazy," said an unregretful Hodges. "Having a baby's more important. Of course I'm going to speed."

Anger and exasperation have been common sentiments recently in Fairfax General District Court, where fee-facing drivers such as Hodges have started to join the daily swarm of traffic offenders. After waiting hours to give their side of the story to judges -- several of whom seemed just as annoyed with the fees as defendants -- many nevertheless left owing enormous sums that they said would be difficult to pay.

Armed With Checkbooks and Excuses, First Casualties of Va. Fees Go to Court - washingtonpost.com
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-13-2007, 01:34 PM
 
6,565 posts, read 14,301,541 times
Reputation: 3229
The Abusive Driver Fees are rediculous, but as for Ms. Hodges??? It's called 911 and an ambulance dumba$$. You don't endanger people on the road for your own personal emergency when we have a system for dealing with such an emergency.....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2007, 01:39 PM
MW2
 
12 posts, read 93,756 times
Reputation: 14
Really for everyone's safety the young lady should have called 911 if she thought she was going into labor and let the ambulance rush her to the hospital. A woman who is panicing and racing to get to the hospital because she is in labor and driving 22 mph over the posted speed limit while experience labor pains, (not easy to concentrate on driving safely while experience labor pains) is putting other lives in danger including her own and her unborn child if she were to have an accident.

The fines are very expensive and definitely would not make meeting monthly bills any easier, so why don't people just slow down and not break the law?

This of course is just my opinion/thoughts on the subject but it just seems easier to just not do 80mph when the speed limit is 55, and safer too.

Thanks for posting the interesting article.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2007, 01:41 PM
MW2
 
12 posts, read 93,756 times
Reputation: 14
oops I see Vafury posted about calling 911 too, I guess I type slower than I thought.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-14-2007, 07:27 AM
 
Location: NW Orlando
1,722 posts, read 3,750,295 times
Reputation: 1356
I can't imagine why the state would pass this law knowing it doesn't include out of state drivers but only Virginia residents! I'm glad I don't live there anymore!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-14-2007, 10:36 AM
MW2
 
12 posts, read 93,756 times
Reputation: 14
You are right, it should apply to all drivers if they truly want to keep the states roads safe!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-14-2007, 05:07 PM
 
6,565 posts, read 14,301,541 times
Reputation: 3229
Quote:
Originally Posted by VaNative View Post
I can't imagine why the state would pass this law knowing it doesn't include out of state drivers but only Virginia residents! I'm glad I don't live there anymore!
Totally agree... Just moved from Florida and that's one area where I think Florida has it right over Virginia. Florida milks tourists and visitors and those NOT from Florida to fill it's coffers while Virginia taxes and fines it's own citizens into the dirt.....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Virginia
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:19 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top