Year after rule change, 1 in 6 driver's licenses suspended in Virginia

[TexasTowelie]

A year after changes were implemented to help drivers win back their licenses, the licenses of nearly 1 million Virginians — almost one out of six licensed drivers — remain suspended, according to a new report.

The Legal Aid Justice Center reported Wednesday that as of last month, there were 974,349 suspended licenses in the state, due at least in part to court debt. Almost two-thirds of that number were suspensions solely for court debt.

The figure is roughly the same as a year earlier. The most readily available and comparable number from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday was for Sept. 3, 2016, when there were 977,891 suspended licenses in the state.

“It appears that these reforms have done little, if anything, to stem the breathtaking current of Virginians losing their licenses,” the center says. From November 2016 to last October there was an average of 835 new suspensions due to court debt each day, says the report.

Read more: http://www.richmond.com/news/local/crime/year-after-rule-change-in-driver-s-licenses-suspended-in/article_b24814ea-5ede-5eea-9ef6-90f004ee9637.html

[thbobby]

1. What an incredibly stupid policy

Take away poor people's ability to drive to work because poor people cannot pay court debt. Voter suppression?

[TexasTowelie]

2. I also suspect that there are a number of people that choose to violate the law

because of necessities such as getting to work. The real downside is that these people are driving uninsured since an insurance policy will not pay a claim if the drivers license is suspended. However, I also have no doubt that the insurance company will continue to cash the checks to pay the policy premium. This also increases the premiums for drivers in good standing since they have to pay higher rates for uninsured motorists coverage to compensate for the increased risk of a collision with an insured driver. It might also have effect on the health care industry as more people arrive at ERs since there is less certainty that they will be compensated.

[williesgirl]

3. This is terrible. Would courts allow hospitals to refuse treatment

If you miss an agreed amount on a payment plan with the hospital???