Texas Drivers Deal With Dangerous Surcharge

I found this opinion by Scott Henson on his weblog titled Grits for Breakfast. This specific piece is called “Texas Tribune Tackles Driver Responsibility Surcharge.” In it, Henson discusses the appalling surcharge and how it affects drivers in Texas. He touches on important facts, such as people getting charged exorbitant amounts of money for “minor infractions.” He also notes that some people get ticketed and are never informed and end up owing thousands of dollars, or worse. Henson reveals to his readers the truth as to why this DPS rule was created in the first place. It was set up, originally, as a money making “mechanism,” but instead has produced more uninsured drivers who are trapped in a never-ending cycle of fines because of the surcharge.
I chose this piece because recently my partner met a woman on the city bus who was trapped in one of these cycles. She now has a warrant out for her arrest, and it all started because of a “minor infraction” that she was never notified about until it was too late. I think that people who drive in Texas should know about this surcharge and what it is doing to Texas drivers and their families that they are trying to support. I agree with Henson completely. We should not have this surcharge in place if it is doing more damage than it is good. Henson states, “Trauma centers are important, but funding them with a mechanism that makes more drivers uninsured amounts to cutting off their nose to spite their face, and the amounts being generated don’t justify the unintended consequences and costs.”
I encourage everyone to read this piece and scroll through this weblog. Henson writes with clear articulation and seems to take into consideration different points of views and possible ways of reasoning. He appears intelligent and very well informed, with a substantial amount of experience relevant to the law, in general. I recommend reading his "About Me" section to learn more about his credibility.
Henson uses expert opinion when he brings in direct information from a Texas judge named Elisabeth Earle. Earle expresses, “A driver will get a ticket for driving without insurance. After paying the initial fine and court costs (already hundreds of dollars), he'll then find out that he also has to pay the state another $250 each year for three years. He can’t afford that fine, so his license gets suspended, but he continues driving. He gets pulled over, goes to jail and winds up in front of [me] Earle.”
Texans cannot possibly sit on the way-side and remain uniformed while something like this is going on. To me, it appears to be criminal on the Texas government’s part. It should absolutely not exist. I only hope that by sharing this with the few, perhaps the many will hear the facts and be driven to create change.