December 15, 2010 |
2010-R-0525 | |
MOTOR VEHICLE TICKETS | ||
By: Paul Frisman, Principal Analyst Steve Hunt, Budget Analyst II |
You asked several questions about PA 06-106, which imposes a $10 surcharge on certain motor vehicle fines. The surcharge goes to the town where the offense occurs. You want to know (1) if the number of tickets issued increased after the law took effect and (2) the amount of money distributed to municipalities since the law was enacted. You asked if police see the law as “an incentive to be more proactive about traffic enforcement.”
The Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) has provided us with Judicial Department data on the number of tickets issued and the amount of additional revenue distributed to municipalities as a result of PA 06-106, codified as CGS § 51-56a (d). Table 1 shows the number of offenses for FY 03 through FY 10; Table 2 shows the amount of additional revenue for FY 07 through FY 11 (estimated).
The $10 surcharge applies to 35 motor vehicle violations and to fines or forfeitures under any municipal ordinance enacted in accordance with these laws. We provide statistics on 11 randomly selected motor vehicle violations. We will provide information on the remaining offenses if you wish.
We note that the number of offenses does not necessarily correlate with the amount of money going to towns, since some cases may be dismissed or not prosecuted (“nolled”).
It is difficult to discern a pattern or trend in the number of tickets issued. The number of tickets issued annually has fluctuated since the act's passage. In fact, as Table 1 shows, the number of tickets issued for several offenses dropped after 2006, the year the act took effect. The number of tickets issues for improper signaling did rise steadily from 361 in FY 05 to 676 in FY 09, but then dropped to 593 in FY 10. It is therefore hard to conclude that PA 06-106 has led to an increase in the number of tickets issued.
We spoke with two police chiefs, both of whom said the statute plays no part in their departments' issuance of tickets. Chief Anthony Salvatore of the Cromwell Police Department said police officers in that town issue tickets to enforce the law and reduce the number of traffic accidents, not to generate revenue. Similarly, West Hartford Police Chief James Strillaci said the surcharge does not play a role in his officers' decisions to issue a ticket.
Table 1: Number of Citations Issued FY 03 - FY 10
Offense |
FY 03 |
FY 04 |
FY 05 |
FY 06 |
FY 07 |
FY 08 |
FY 09 |
FY 10 |
14-218a - Traveling Unreasonably Fast |
35,159 |
35,344 |
34,044 |
29,212 |
24,276 |
26,434 |
23,680 |
22,301 |
14-219 - Speeding |
88,740 |
90,580 |
92,663 |
92,540 |
93,720 |
91,260 |
92,066 |
92,540 |
14-222 - Reckless Driving |
649 |
646 |
577 |
634 |
563 |
628 |
453 |
423 |
14-227a- Driving Under the Influence (DUI) |
2,501 |
2,259 |
2,015 |
1,971 |
2,143 |
2,165 |
2,288 |
1,998 |
14-232 - Illegal Passing |
1,654 |
1,541 |
1,421 |
1,410 |
1,314 |
1,635 |
1,156 |
1,296 |
14-239 - Driving Wrong Way on One-way Street |
476 |
381 |
368 |
411 |
400 |
401 |
353 |
338 |
14-240 - Failure to Drive Reasonable Distance Apart |
12,351 |
11,571 |
10,972 |
11,318 |
10,607 |
10,629 |
9,088 |
9,192 |
14- 279 - Passing a School Bus (First Offense) |
384 |
437 |
371 |
288 |
311 |
309 |
278 |
337 |
14-244 – Improper Signaling |
410 |
369 |
361 |
465 |
499 |
644 |
676 |
593 |
14-301 - Going Through Stop Sign |
13,984 |
12,831 |
11,881 |
12,235 |
11,564 |
12,778 |
12,292 |
11,508 |
14-302 - Violating "Yield" Signs |
220 |
279 |
129 |
61 |
67 |
56 |
56 |
104 |
Source: Office of Fiscal Analysis from Judicial Department
Table 2: Additional Revenue Remitted to Towns as a Result of PA 06-106 FY 07 to FY 11 (est.)
Offense |
FY 07 |
FY 08 |
FY 09 |
FY 10 |
FY 11 Est. |
14-218a - Traveling Unreasonably Fast |
$293,378 |
$338,730 |
$322,065 |
$314,318 |
$304,451 |
14-219 - Speeding |
694,814 |
802,223 |
762,753 |
744,407 |
721,039 |
14-222 - Reckless Driving |
12,262 |
14,157 |
13,461 |
13,137 |
12,725 |
14-227a- DUI |
85,764 |
99,022 |
94,150 |
91,886 |
89,001 |
14-232 - Illegal Passing |
9,624 |
11,111 |
10,565 |
10,311 |
9,987 |
14-239 - Driving Wrong Way |
2,643 |
3,051 |
2,901 |
2,831 |
2,742 |
14-240 - Failure to Drive Reasonable Distance Apart |
71,820 |
82,922 |
78,842 |
76,946 |
74,530 |
14- 279 - Passing a School Bus |
10,354 |
11,955 |
11,367 |
11,093 |
10,745 |
14-244 - Improper Signaling |
3,526 |
4,072 |
3,871 |
3,778 |
3,660 |
14-301 - Going Through Stop Sign |
99,660 |
115,066 |
109,405 |
106,773 |
103,421 |
14-302 - Violating "Yield" Signs |
617 |
713 |
677 |
661 |
640 |
TOTAL Revenue |
$1,302,307 |
$1,503,625 |
$1,429,646 |
$1,395,260 |
$1,351,460 |
Source: Office of Fiscal Analysis from Judicial Department
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