Traffic fine backlog

Bob Hertzberg, a state senator, D-Van Nuys, is introducing Senate Bill 405 which will base the penalty of traffic fines on ability to pay, so we can distinguish between the unwilling and the unable to pay.

He feels Gov. Brown’s 50% reduction in fines accrued prior to 2013 does not go far enough. He cites a case of a young man, 18, whose father had died of pancreatic cancer and his mother was working as a housekeeper. The young man got a $350 speeding ticket. He ignored it, then got another. He needed to drive, going to school and to his job, so with fines, it added up to $7,000. His employer finally helped him out and cleared the fine.

Why not author a bill to increase the education of rules for getting a driver’s license? Just because one can’t afford to pay fines for breaking the law, we should make his fine cheaper? Gov. Brown’s efforts to clean up the backlog of fines is fair enough.

This story was originally published May 23, 2015 at 7:09 AM with the headline "Traffic fine backlog."