Driver Responsibility Assessment

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Driver Responsibility Assessment is a colorful euphemism the government of the State of New York decided to use when naming NYS VAT (Vehicle And Traffic law) Section 503 (4). When certain circumstances are met, any motorist, from any state, who receives a traffic citation in New York, can trigger this extremely aggressive second fine.

1 The Law
2 History
3 The Circumstances
4 Outcome
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] The Law

4. Driver responsibility assessment. (a) Any person who accumulates

 six  or  more  points  on  his  or her driving record for acts committed
 within an eighteen month period shall become liable  to  the  department
 for  payment  of  a driver responsibility assessment as provided in this
 subdivision.
   (b) The amount of the  driver  responsibility  assessment  under  this
 section  shall  be  one hundred dollars per year for a three-year period
 for the first  six  points  on  a  driver's  record  and  an  additional
 twenty-five  dollars per year for each additional point on such driver's
 record.
   (c) Upon receipt of evidence that a person is liable  for  the  driver
 responsibility assessment required by this subdivision, the commissioner
 shall  notify  such  person  by  first class mail to the address of such
 person on file with the department or at the current address provided by
 the United States postal service of the amount of such  assessment,  the
 time  and  manner  of making required payments, and that failure to make
 payment shall result in the suspension of his or her driver's license or
 privilege of obtaining a driver's license.
   (d) If a person shall fail to pay any driver responsibility assessment
 as provided in this subdivision, the  commissioner  shall  suspend  such
 person's  driver's  license  or  privilege  of obtaining a license. Such

 suspension shall remain in effect until any and all  outstanding  driver
 responsibility assessments have been paid in full.
   (e)  Any  completion  of  a  motor  vehicle accident prevention course
 approved pursuant to article twelve-B of this chapter shall not serve to
 reduce the calculation of points on a person's driving  record  for  the
 purposes of this section.
   (f)  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  law  to the contrary,
 commencing April first, two thousand six and ending March  thirty-first,
 two  thousand  seven,  the  first  forty  million seven hundred thousand
 dollars of fees collected  pursuant  to  this  subdivision  and  section
 eleven  hundred  ninety-nine of this chapter, in the aggregate, shall be
 paid to the state comptroller who shall deposit such money in the  state
 treasury pursuant to section one hundred twenty-one of the state finance
 law to the credit of the general fund. Any such fees collected in excess
 of such amount shall be paid to the credit of the comptroller on account
 of  the  dedicated highway and bridge trust fund established pursuant to
 section eighty-nine-b of the state finance law. Commencing April  first,
 two  thousand  seven  and ending March thirty-first, two thousand eight,
 and for each such fiscal year thereafter, the first forty million  seven
 hundred  thousand dollars of fees collected pursuant to this subdivision
 and  section  eleven  hundred  ninety-nine  of  this  chapter,  in   the
 aggregate, shall be paid to the state comptroller who shall deposit such
 money  in  the state treasury pursuant to section one hundred twenty-one
 of the state finance law to the credit of the  general  fund.  Any  such
 fees collected in excess of such amount for each such state fiscal year,
 shall  be  paid  to  the  credit  of  the  comptroller on account of the
 dedicated highway and bridge trust fund established pursuant to  section
 eighty-nine-b of the state finance law.

[edit] History

Intended to fill a gap in projected 2005 expenditures, New York State enacted into law VAT Section 503 (4) on November 18, 2004 in a late night budget planning session. The law is modeled after a similar one in effect in Illinois, and the intention is purely to increase revenue as evidenced by its very wording. Expenditures associated with the revenue generated by this law are planned, highly unusual for a traffic law to overlap budgetary planning.

[edit] The Circumstances

A motorist will trigger the Driver Responsibility Assessment when the following set of circumstances are met:

you are convicted of an alcohol-related traffic violation;

you are convicted of a drug-related traffic violation;

a DMV hearing determines that you refused a chemical test; or

you receive six or more points on your NYS driver record during a period of 18 months.

Considering the current condition of traffic law in New York State, it is not difficult to obtain 6 points within an 18-month period. Depending on the severity of the infraction, one individual ticket can carry as much as 6 points alone. Combined with such offences as Reckless Driving, which is purely subjective and entirely at the discretion and opinion of the traffic officer (who has a direct incentive to issue more tickets in order to meet his quota or “performance standard”, the euphemism many police departments have adopted in lieu of quota so they can deny the existence of a ticket quota), the outcome of one traffic stop can determine if the motorist will have to pay moneys in addition to the primary fine associated with the infraction.

[edit] Outcome

Any motorist who travels on a road in New York State is potentially subject to the Driver Responsibility Assessment. Carrying a license from another state is no protection, as efforts are being made to build reciprocity between the states. What this means is that New York State can arrange for another state to suspend the license of a resident motorist who has not paid their Assessment, and may even go so far as to put the assessment into collections, potentially damaging the motorists credit rating.