Perdue signs ‘super-speeders’ law
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Georgia drivers traveling well above the speed limit will face stiff new fines under legislation Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law on Tuesday.
The fines — expected to total about $23 million a year — are designed to help the state’s cash-strapped network of trauma hospitals.
Perdue said he hoped the crackdown on so-called super-speeders would encourage reckless drivers in Georgia to slow down.
“I believe we can not only help fund trauma care through increased fines, but we can also reduce the heavy burden on our state’s emergency rooms,” Perdue said Tuesday.
Each year, traffic crashes on Georgia’s roadways cause more than 1,600 fatalities, about a quarter of them caused by excessive speeds, state officials report. The accidents have placed a strain on Georgia’s trauma centers.
The new law tacks on an additional $200 fine on drivers busted for topping 85 mph on four-lane roads and interstate highways, or 75 mph on two-lane roads. Those extra fines would be on top of the original speeding fine, which officials said vary from one jurisdiction to another. The upper speed limit on Georgia interstates is 70 miles per hour. The new fees take effect in January.
Beginning July 1, the law also hikes driver’s license reinstatement fees for Georgians with repeat speeding offenses.
Georgia’s trauma centers have been struggling for years with a chronic cash shortage. A 2007 legislative study committee concluded the state’s trauma network is in crisis. The committee found that the death rate in Georgia from traumatic injury is far greater than the national rate.
Georgia hospitals, which say they provide more than $170 million in uncompensated care each year, argue the staggering costs of providing trauma care have led some to drop the voluntary “trauma” designation. That has left large swaths of rural Georgia without a trauma care center.
The expected $23 million a year from speeder fees will help hospitals but supporters say it is still well below what is needed to properly fund the system.
House GOP leaders had proposed a new one-time fee on car sales that could help fund the system but it failed to win legislative approval
Perdue signed the measure Tuesday at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite campus. He was joined by Andre Benjamin of the Atlanta-based music group OutKast. Benjamin was recently ticketed for excessive speeding and toured the hospital’s trauma center with Perdue.
The governor had pushed the “super-speeder” measure for three years now.
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Georgia drivers traveling well above the speed limit will face stiff new fines under legislation Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law on Tuesday.
The fines — expected to total about $23 million a year — are designed to help the state’s cash-strapped network of trauma hospitals.
Perdue said he hoped the crackdown on so-called super-speeders would encourage reckless drivers in Georgia to slow down.
“I believe we can not only help fund trauma care through increased fines, but we can also reduce the heavy burden on our state’s emergency rooms,” Perdue said Tuesday.
Each year, traffic crashes on Georgia’s roadways cause more than 1,600 fatalities, about a quarter of them caused by excessive speeds, state officials report. The accidents have placed a strain on Georgia’s trauma centers.
The new law tacks on an additional $200 fine on drivers busted for topping 85 mph on four-lane roads and interstate highways, or 75 mph on two-lane roads. Those extra fines would be on top of the original speeding fine, which officials said vary from one jurisdiction to another. The upper speed limit on Georgia interstates is 70 miles per hour. The new fees take effect in January.
Beginning July 1, the law also hikes driver’s license reinstatement fees for Georgians with repeat speeding offenses.
Georgia’s trauma centers have been struggling for years with a chronic cash shortage. A 2007 legislative study committee concluded the state’s trauma network is in crisis. The committee found that the death rate in Georgia from traumatic injury is far greater than the national rate.
Georgia hospitals, which say they provide more than $170 million in uncompensated care each year, argue the staggering costs of providing trauma care have led some to drop the voluntary “trauma” designation. That has left large swaths of rural Georgia without a trauma care center.
The expected $23 million a year from speeder fees will help hospitals but supporters say it is still well below what is needed to properly fund the system.
House GOP leaders had proposed a new one-time fee on car sales that could help fund the system but it failed to win legislative approval
Perdue signed the measure Tuesday at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite campus. He was joined by Andre Benjamin of the Atlanta-based music group OutKast. Benjamin was recently ticketed for excessive speeding and toured the hospital’s trauma center with Perdue.
The governor had pushed the “super-speeder” measure for three years now.
