Mich. bill could affect parking ticket offenders
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Students prone to parking tickets might be better off taking the bus if a new bill is passed in the Michigan Legislature.
The bill would lower the number of tolerated outstanding parking tickets to three — half the number allowed in the current law.
A driver logging three unpaid tickets would not be able to renew his or her driver’s license and would face a possible license suspension.
The change would be dramatic for East Lansing, said Nancy Moylan, the court administrator for East Lansing’s 54-B District Court.
“It’s a huge problem,” she said. “We have a lot of parking tickets, period — lots of transient people coming through.”
Applied engineering sciences senior Nick Prafke, who commutes to MSU from Grand Rapids, said the city’s overnight parking regulations make it difficult to stay with friends during the week. He has received two parking tickets in East Lansing.
“There’s nowhere to park overnight; that’s a huge challenge,” he said.
But the goal of the law is two-sided, said Rep. Roy Schmidt, D-Grand Rapids, the bill’s sponsor.
The bill would increase cash flow for local governments that haven’t received money from state revenue sharing, which distributes a portion of Michigan sales tax income between state and city governments.
“(The bill) will help cities who are struggling during this economic challenge,” Schmidt said.
East Lansing has $2.2 million in outstanding revenue from unpaid parking tickets and MSU is waiting on $118,985 from unpaid tickets.
MSU has 4,242 outstanding parking tickets, and 501 of those tickets are from repeat offenders.
Schmidt said the bill leaves less wiggle room for those people with multiple tickets.
“We try to reign in on the (drivers) who have abused the system. It’s going to be an avenue for cities to get revenue in where the law has already been broken,” he said. “When you get six tickets, you’ve got a problem.”
Since the bill adds up parking tickets from police agencies statewide, tickets issued on campus could be counted in addition to tickets from East Lansing — or any other city — to suspend drivers’ licenses.
But three tickets does not mean automatic and immediate driver suspension.
Once a driver’s third violation is logged, the court would mail a letter warning that the license cannot be renewed if the citations are not paid within 10 days. After the 10 days, the Secretary of State would freeze the license and the driver would be charged a $45 fee, as well as the cost of the outstanding tickets.
But not everyone is convinced the bill will change behaviors.
“I guess it’s a good idea and the way it probably should be, but it doesn’t make me want to pay my parking tickets any sooner,” Prafke said.
Commentary
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you need an editor
(09/09/09 11:42am)Report
“We try to REIGN in on the (drivers) who have abused the system. It’s going to be an avenue for cities to get revenue in where the law has already been broken,” he said. “When you get six tickets, you’ve got a problem”
**you’d think that the person who edited this artcle would learn that the CORRECT word is “REIN”!
is that the “great” education MSU provides? someone writing for a newspaper that doesn’t know “REIGN” from “REIN”? wow
Stupid
(09/09/09 2:09pm)Report
Our government is out of control.
They are basically trying to make automatic criminal penalties (pulling your driver’s license) for what may be a minor issue or even a government mistake.
3 is just to low a number. Say you have one legitimate unpaid ticket, one that is unpaid but being appealed and then you get a third because a meter runs out?
Now, instead of having some fees or fines, you can have you license taken away?
Great Observation....
(09/09/09 2:36pm)Report
..you need an editor, what would the State News do without you? Nice Job, once again!
tedman
(09/09/09 2:37pm)Report
In Chicago, 3 unpaid tickets gets you the Denver boot.
Just another tactic to bring in more revenue from the “transient people” i.e. students
UTfan
(09/09/09 5:06pm)Report
This is exactly why people are leaving that state. I went to school up there because Texas gives out of state tuition free to top performers and they had a good program. MI is nothing but a high tension state with too big of a government and this is more of the same. This is just a way to badger honest people who are trying to park their cars. I’ve been all over the country including real college towns like Austin, and I’ve never seen parking police worse than EL. The problem is they are paying these people too much money to do a job that can be done for $8/hour. In the south, these parking people do not get paid what they do up there, plus they don’t give all kinds of crazy tickets for having a wheel on the sidewalk line, etc. What’s worse, is that they have construction barrels all around that state and it’s a complete eye sore and nothing ever gets fixed right. They pay their construction workers a salary of 60k. Down here, they pay construction workers $12/hour. There are no big benefit packages for most workers. Also, chain prison gangs clean the street which is tax free — that’s what I call efficiency. Instead, up there, you have to create hidden taxes for folks for no reason other than to pay these workers inflated salaries and giving parking tickets is another hidden tax. This is why their state is a failure and their people are disliked by the rest of the south. Look at the polls, 80% of the country opposed the car bailouts. Just a word of thought as to why Michigan is a backwards state and most of the country dispises their excessive taxes and anal rules.
Turk
(09/09/09 9:31pm)Report
I got a $30 for parking longer than allowed in a 2 hour zone yesterday. It was on a back road, not even on campus. I don’t know how they manage to have enough people to catch you on every single offense the second it happens, but it’s really frustrating. I’ve also noticed that they hide paying hours on the back of the meters, so people are paying even when it’s past 6 pm or on Sundays.
Ed Kinsey
(09/10/09 4:26pm)Report
So what about kids that borrow a car that is registered to their parents? Are the parents supposed to lose their license because of the mistakes of their kids?
A person that wasn’t driving the vehicle, but is just the registered owner, would face fines/penalties…
Like East Lansing doesn’t make enough money based on handing out tickets.
MB
(09/10/09 4:28pm)Report
Give the kids a break!