Super speeder law will have terrible, swift effect on poor

As a past president of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, I am gravely concerned with the potential economic impact of the recently passed “super speeder” law. The law fining excessive speeders amounts to nothing more than another tax (some legislators call it a fee) on our residents and it mainly hits the working poor and lower-middle class.

Let me give you an example of its potential impact based on Emanuel County:

A single mother who is already having a hard time financially is running late for work and has to drop off the kids at day care. She finds herself behind a slower-moving construction vehicle and increases her speed to pass it. Officers stop her for speeding at 76 in a 55 zone. She goes to court and is found guilty of speeding and is fined $200.

Approximately 30 days later she gets a bill from Georgia Department of Driver Services for $200 under the super speeder law and is informed that if she fails to pay her license will be suspended. The original fine tapped out her already strapped budget and she cannot afford to pay the extra $200. Approximately 30 days later she receives notice from DDS that her driver’s license has been suspended. Then she gets notice from her insurance company that her insurance is canceled for a suspended license. She may be charged additional fees up to $400 to have her driver’s license reinstated after she pays everything.

It won’t be long after this bill is signed into law that the domino effect is felt and more than one-third of the drivers in this county will be forced to make a decision whether to violate Georgia law in order to provide for their families and drive to work. In rural Georgia there is no such thing as public transportation and most folks drive 15 miles or more each way to work. Poverty levels are high and people are already terribly struggling.

We all know that these fees, up to an estimated $23 million per year, are to benefit the state’s trauma facilities, and I personally believe the governor and legislators are sincere in their attempts to provide this needed funding. I feel, however, that we should have debated other avenues such as the proposed $10 fee on all automobile license tags to generate the needed revenue. Besides, there is no absolute guarantee that all the monies generated by the super speeder law will go to fund the trauma centers. Funding trauma centers is a worthy cause. But the timing to use this method to raise the money could not be worse on our working people. I believe that these good people just can’t afford to pay any more.

> J. Tyson Stephens is sheriff of Emanuel County.