Virginia Abusive Driver Fees Repealed

After less than a year, Virginia's Abusive Driver Fees have been repealed. Gov. Kaine signed the bill, which goes into effect immediately. One Senator called the fees "the biggest mistake the legislature had made in his tenure".

Abusive driver fees were enacted last year as a means to collect additional revenues for the state in cases of reckless driving, DUI, driving with a suspended license, and other Virginia traffic charges. However, they were immediately controversial, since they were simply an extra fee collected by the Virginia DMV at license or registration renewal time. Because it was a fee collected by the DMV, it did not apply to driver who are charged with any of those offenses who happened to have out of state drivers licenses.

Those who have been charged with these fees are eligible for a refund, and should contact the DMV.