• 10
  • March
    2011

In recent DWI-related developments, the controversial Texas Driver Responsibility Program - designed to make those convicted of certain traffic offenses pay costly surcharges - may be coming to a conclusion.

Instituted in 2003, the program assesses rather steep surcharges to those convicted of traffic and drunk driving offenses. (For example, a first conviction for DWI results in a surcharge of $1,000 a year for three years.) It also dictates that any surcharges must be paid in full or the offender will lose their driver's license.

The original intent behind the Texas Driver Responsibility Program was to use the surcharge revenue to cover the costs of highway repairs and to fund trauma care centers across the state.

However, it has been largely ineffective. In fact, nearly 60 percent of people who have been ordered to pay surcharges - roughly 1.2 million Texas drivers - have not paid.

To date, the state of Texas is owed over $1.1 billion dollars in surcharges.

Interestingly, there is now growing dissatisfaction with the program in Austin.

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee recently declared that the surcharge program should be brought to an end, referring to the 1.2 million unlicensed and uninsured drivers on Texas' roads as "unacceptable."

"These surcharges are not changing behavior, not being collected and are creating a new class of criminals each day by adding to the 1.2 million unlicensed and uninsured drivers in the state," said the Senate committee in a report to the state legislature.

It is worth noting that the Texas Department of Public Safety, acting under orders from lawmakers, even opened a new amnesty program in an attempt to mitigate some of the losses from uncollected surcharges. Specifically, the program allowed drivers to have their license reinstated if they paid 10 percent of the surcharges owed.

Stay tuned for developments from our Dallas criminal defense blog ...

Please remember, if you are arrested for driving while intoxicated and are thinking about trying to save money by using a public defender or handling the matter yourself, you may want to reconsider. An experienced DWI defense attorney will know the best way to handle your ALR hearing to protect your driver's license, as well as the strategies that the police and prosecutors are likely to use in their case. By having your own attorney at your side throughout the process, you will be protected from saying or doing anything that will be used against you in court.

Today's post was for informational purposes only and not to be construed as legal advice.

Related Resources:

Texas may drop extra charge in DWI, no-insurance cases (The Houston Chronicle)