New Jersey officials need to correct a recent traffic law that keeps dangerous drivers on the road while the state rakes in millions of dollars in fines from them.
The driving offense is called "unsafe operation," and it's the violation of choice for chronically bad drivers. That's because the offense carries no points against a driver's license.
Reckless driving, for example, is five points. Running a stop sign is two points. When a driver racks up 12 points, his license is suspended.
Allowing drivers to plead to "unsafe operation," and thus avoid getting any points, reduces the backlog of court cases, but it also creates a disincentive for bad drivers to change their habits.
The "unsafe operation" violation was created in 2000, and Gov. McGreevey added a $250 surcharge to the offense in 2004. The law has turned out to be a revenue-raiser for Trenton.
Last year, New Jersey municipal courts collected $44.7 million in unsafe-operator surcharges from more than 180,000 guilty pleas. As outlined in a recent Inquirer report, Cherry Hill Township alone sends up to $20,000 in these fines to Trenton every month.
Another reason drivers opt eagerly for a plea to this charge is to avoid a steep hike in their insurance costs. Points against a driver's record is one way insurance companies calculate how much to charge in premiums.
New Jerseyans are experiencing a double-whammy of increased risks on the road. Not only are reckless drivers getting a pass, but thousands of drunken-driving prosecutions are on hold due to a court challenge over the accuracy of the state's new breath-test machine.
The state Supreme Court has appointed a special master to hold hearings into the Alcotest machine, but there's no deadline for a decision. In the meantime, about 12,000 drivers charged with drunken driving in the past two years have kept their licenses. (In Pennsylvania, most police departments use a different breath-test machine.)
Combined, these factors have resulted in tragedies that could have been avoided. In one South Jersey case, a woman with drunken-driving convictions and three guilty pleas to "unsafe operation" violations is now charged with vehicular homicide in the death of Rebecca Haines, 24, a Navy veteran who served three tours in the Persian Gulf.
The state Transportation Department is studying the impact of the "unsafe operation" law. Officials should either eliminate the violation or make sure it carries points. As it now stands, it's a safe haven for unsafe drivers.