News & Press Releases

Highway Robbery

Sean O'Shea & Candice Mak, Global Defenders
Published: Monday, November 07, 2005

From his hiding spot on New York's busy Highway 190 sits trooper Brian McCloud. He watches and waits. Training a keen eye on drivers with a heavy foot.

Come up too fast on this state trooper's radar and you'll face the consequences.

"We get a lot of people driving at high rates of speed through here," McCloud tells the Global Defenders, shortly after pulling over a driver. "You were going 72 in a 55," McCloud says, asking whether the young female behind the wheel is running late for school.

These New York highways are among the most patrolled in America.

Break the traffic laws and you could face an enormous penalty.

Whether you're American or not.

Just ask Lee Brown of Toronto - who got nabbed by state police in the spring.

She was caught driving 22 m.p.h (about 35 km/h) over the speed limit.

Brown didn't bother fighting the ticket, choosing to plead guilty - and accepting a heavy fine.

"It was $180 U.S," Brown says, admitting she found the original ticket pricey at the time. "Yes, I was a bit surprised, it was that much. But what the heck, I paid it."

In fact Brown's problems were only beginning when she paid the fine. In New York state, the true cost of speeding is much more than the speeding ticket itself. And don't blame police.

Under a new state law called the Driver Responsibility Program, New York fines some drivers not just once - but twice.

"I don't think they really thought through due process and the rights of individuals when they put it into effect," says Fonda Kubiak, a Buffalo, New York based lawyer.

Kubiak says the Driver Responsibility program isn't aimed at making roads safer -- it's a simple cash grab.

"The legislature amended the vehicle and traffic law in 2004 primarily as a revenue-generating tool to get some more money into the coffers of New York State who are under severe budget restraints at the present moment," adds Kubiak.

Two months after paying her speeding ticket - Lee Brown got a surprise letter from the state of New York. It was a demand for more money under the Driver Responsibility Program.

Remember: Brown had already paid a $180 speeding fine.

But on top of that, the state government was now demanding an extra $300.

Total price of that speeding infraction? $480 U.S., which translates into $565 Cdn.

"It feels like a bit like the scams that used to go on in the south in the 1960s," says Brown. "It seemed very wrong."

No one had told Brown she'd face the extra fine. It was payable, because her ticket carried six demerit points.

But there are no signs on New York roadways warning about the program. No one mentioned a secondary fine either when she got her ticket or later entered her plea.

"There's no warning at all, I hadn't heard a thing about it," says Brown.

Even the police say the extra fines come as a surprise to drivers.

"I'd say probably 90 to 95 per cent don't even know, aren't aware of it," admits trooper Brian McCloud. "I don't think it was too publicized here."

Had Lee Brown known about the Driver Responsibility fines, she says she would have fought the original ticket. Now, she's refusing to pay the extra $300 dollar bill.

Some critics call the Driver Responsibility Program "highway robbery" - especially unfair to anyone living out of state, and who would have no way of knowing that a simple speeding ticket could be so expensive.

If you don't pay the fine and try to cross the U.S. border into New York state, you face the loss of your driving privileges, the confiscation or your vehicle or even arrest. All good reasons to consider fighting tickets given in New York state, either if it means hiring a lawyer or paralegal.

Lee Brown says she will not pay the ticket, out of principle. But she realizes that means no more driving trips to New York State.