The General Assembly fought a high-profile battle over payday lenders this year, but couldn’t work out a deal before the close of the session. The beef against payday lenders is that their usurious interest rates trap unsuspecting people in a vicious cycle of debt: The fees are so exorbitant that poor people have to keep borrowing just to meet their payment obligations on previous loans.

The Assembly did, however, pass the now-hugely-unpopular “abusive driver” fees, which can climb into the four-digit territory and which can be levied for offenses such as driving more than 20 mph over the posted speed limit, driving without insurance, driving on a suspended license, and driving on bald tires. It’s not hard to come up with a scenario in which a hospital orderly or restaurant dish-washer gets fined for speeding, fails to pay the fine because he lacks the money, has his license suspended, gets pulled over for bald tires he can’t afford to replace, and ends up being gored by the state by the new fees that he can’t afford to pay, either.

In both cases, of course, the individual in question could avoid the financial difficulty by making wiser choices: not borrowing from a payday lender, and obeying traffic laws. In the debate over payday lenders, however, the critics of those lenders essentially remove all agency from the individual and assume he is more acted upon than acting—forced by circumstances beyond his control into a situation he cannot escape. It seems as though the same criticism would apply to the exorbitantly high driver fees.

The people who criticize the people criticizing the abusive-driver fees say the levies are just desserts for foolish behavior. It seems as though that argument would apply equally well to the interest rates charged by payday lenders.

Borrowing money isn’t criminal behavior, of course. That’s one reason the analogy is inexact. If you can think of any others, feel free to chime in.

Patrick, I read your published letter today. And concerning the whiners even more, I’ll reinforce the sentiments of another letter-writer:

Driving sober and safely is NOT too much to expect from people! I mean, naturally only child molesters will complain about increased penalties for child molesting…

The result is the fault of all the bitchers. Where were they in February’07 when the General Assembly was in session? Do the whiners vote? Are they registered? Do they keep voting for the same political charlatans and expect different results?

Common sense says payday lenders should be eliminated by caping interest at 10%, then extend it to the credit card industry.

Same goes for driving penalties, increase them for all violations. Make it expensive to drive and use gasolene. Plus, eliminate cell phone use in a moving vehicle. All fines should go to a transportation fund period.

Good point Ed—the point about road upgrade/overhaul being amongst the ‘smart’ solutions for reducing roadway death. Currently, I-95 through the area is a literal slaughterhouse. The design of the road is not very brilliant along some sections.

I have been in a car which caught fire and there was NOwhere to pull over in a hurry! (Talk about scary…) That stretch btx. Maury St. and Bells Rd. has no emergency pull-over lanes in the centre and really nothing on the right either. One of the first things they should do is make sure there are wide pull-over lanes, along every inch of the highway,  so people can easily & safely get out of harm’s way—and not be in anybody else’s way.

Poor folks down on their luck get more sympathy than drivers in a red hot sports convertible, for some unknown reason I have yet to fathom.

Another inexactitude is the apples and oranges of it. Pay day loans and bad drivers are two separate topics when it comes to what constitutes customary and reasonable punishment and/or crackdown.

Part of the problem with I-95 is aside from bad mannered drivers, the simple inescapable fact that the roads around much of the nation, the busy North-South corridor in particular, are simply not designed for the volume of traffic they face.

Anyone remember how much sleepier Richmond was 30 yrs. ago ?  50 yrs ago ? 120 yr ago ? (that last was a trick question) Traffic gets worse every single day.  It is not predicted to get better.

These Payday lenders must be cutting into lottery profits.

The dishwasher analogy is weak. It could apply to any crime. If he gets a DUI, he would be in equally hot water but, I don’t see anyone whining about DUI penalties.

I drive I95 every day between Bryan Park and Maury St. There are times when I simply pass the on ramp and opt for the thru town trip because my nerves aren’t up to dealing with 90mph tractor trailers, tailgating jerks, lane jumping morons and the weekly jam caused by somebodys truck exploding or a car upside down on the jersey wall.

I’ve never understood why people throw such hissy fits over crack downs on people who obviously have no respect for others. If I were to walk down Main St. and randomly shoot into buildings, I might hit someone, I might not. This would be considered an act of incomprehensible evil by many of the same people who see no wrong in risking the lives of everyone around them when they drive like they are the only ones who matter and everyone else is expendable.

Making an example of the few people the cops can stop would go a long way towards tamping this down. People behave like idiots now because the punishment, if you’re one of the few actually caught, does’nt hurt.

That out of sate drivers aren’t fined equally is stupid though. If the excuse Kaine gives is because there would be trouble collecting the fines then, why even bother enforcing the current laws against out of staters? Garnish their wages or put a lein on their butts. They’ll pay.

I also think this could work as well as the “broken window” programs that are used to clean up sleazy areas. I know for a fact that 15 minutes on the 95 idiodrome in the morning can ruin my mood for an entire day. If people would slow down, be respectful and civil, we’d all be a lot happier. Those that refuse to play nice can pay thru the nose or, even better, spend a few weeks down on Fairfield Way.

I don’t even see the two situations as being analogous—not even close. (1.) Predatory driving is dangerously bad behavior; there is no good intent. (2.) People borrowing from payday lenders do so more out of desperation…food for themselves and/or children, to make the rent on time…

That being said, payday lenders—at least—give the struggling persons this option of needed borrowing. Banks, on the other hand, basically say ‘We’d like to help you but we’ve got our rules.‘ (Banks only lend to people who’ve already GOT money!)The fees for payday lending are exorbitant, but I don’t think they qualify as hidden costs. Its all spelled-out upfront. Payday lenders provide a service to those who need it—those working hard to do the right thing.

Now, who exactly are reckless drivers trying to help?! No one. They are a flat-out menace.

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