Massachusetts Teens Face Massive Speeding Fines

16 Jul, 2007 2 Comments

If you thought you were hard done-by the new P plater restrictions, stop worrying, its not only Australia that is going mad with P plater laws. The U.S. state of Massachusetts has introduced new laws to mandate anyone under 18 hit with a traffic ticket to:

pay the original fine plus a $50 surcharge,
90-day license suspension,
Pay $500 to attend a State Courts Against Road Rage three-hour “attitudinal retraining” seminar designed primarily for hardened criminal offenders.
Redo her written and practical test.

The system works by sending all under 18 criminals to the three-hour course before allowing for a license renewal. So far lat month the traffic police sent 785 under 18s to attend the course, raising $392,500 USD.

One such unlucky soul who had to attend the course was Jackie Crawford, a recent high school graduate who was issued with a $100 ticket in April for driving 55km/hr in a 40 zone (35 MPH in a 25). Not only did she face the speeding ticket and the surcharge, but she also had to pay $500 to attend a seminar which left her horrified and now also has to redo both her written and her practical examination!

Thankfully though, in every corner of the world there are those who see the illogical association with harsh first time penalties. Tim Cooney, executive director the Central Massachusetts Safety Council said:

“I think the public should be educated about this new law and police should use more discretion. In some respects the law is good. But to be punished like this for a first offense is a little harsh.”

The new laws have caused a public outcry by young drivers and safety advocates alike.

Source: Telegram.com

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2 Responses to “Massachusetts Teens Face Massive Speeding Fines”

Reckless1 Says:
July 17th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Tame stuff compared to Victoria.

Check this http://www.news.com.au/heralds.....61,00.html

Try and take off from a booze bus and it’s up to $12,892 fine.

You’re better off bashing your girlfriend, pleading guilty, then pleading extenuating circumstances, after which you get let off.
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Astro Boy Says:
July 18th, 2007 at 2:38 am
In a country that will shoot you if you say NASCAR sucks or shoot anything that looks, arab/gay/moves it surprises me that they take speeding so seriously. Obviously they are very very worried at the rate of teenager deaths resulting from car crashes, but its perfectly fine for people to shoot stuff. I bet every vehicle in that picture has a gun in it and atleast one has dope in it. That country has its priorities in the wrong place.
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