Legal Commentary

Will the Recession Mean More Traffic Tickets?

By TChris

Local governments generally deny that they use traffic tickets to raise revenue, but two economists who reviewed tickets issued in North Carolina drew conclusions that tend to confirm a common suspicion: traffic tickets are more about generating dollars than public safety.

Traffic tickets go up significantly when local government revenue falls, they found. Their study showed for the first time evidence of how "local governments behave, in part, as though traffic tickets are a revenue tool to help offset periods of fiscal distress." ...

Controlling for other factors, a 1 percentage point drop in local government revenue leads to a roughly .32 percentage point increase in the number of traffic tickets in the following year, a statistically significant connection.

Rising unemployment rates also correlate with increased ticketing. As the recession pinches local budgets, expect more traffic citations to be issued. The lesson: drive carefully, don't roll through stop signs, and invest in a good radar detector.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 06, 2009 (boomark / email).