Abusive driver fees: Making it a little personal

The controversy over Virginia’s new “civil remedial fees” for “abusive drivers” has generated a lot of ink in the last two months.

The Washington Post has made the brouhaha a little personal for the commonwealth’s lawmakers.

Quite a few public officials, from Gov. Tim Kaine to Speaker Bill Howell to other members of the General Assembly, have been given traffic tickets, mostly for speeding, over the past few years. Not indicated is whether they were rushing to Richmond to get the people's business done or fleeing from the capital to get the hell out of Dodge.

Would these lawmakers qualify as “abusive drivers” and get nailed for the hefty fees?

Actually, probably not, since many of the offenses detailed in the Post piece fall just this side of reckless driving.

A Kaine spokesman, while denying the governor would be classified as an “abusive driver,” tries to take the Tim-as-everyman approach: “Like many Virginians, the Governor has been cited for speeding…”

“Like many Virginians”? The guy must have been talking about all the officials named in the Post article.