Drivers who tend to lean a little heavy on the gas pedal may soon be able to erase twice as many speeding tickets from their records.
Without dissent, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved legislation Tuesday that says a motorist can attend defensive driving as often as once every 12 months to wipe out a citation. Now, drivers are eligible to go only once every 24 months.
What's important about that is not the money: It costs as much to attend a class or take the course online as it does to pay the ticket.
But completing the course means the violation does not show up on someone's driving record -- the record that insurance companies use to determine premiums. And that's precisely why a parade of insurance industry lobbyists showed up in opposition.
Several lawmakers said they heard the industry's concerns. But that did not stop the panel from approving HB 2411 unanimously.
The measure is being pushed by the Arizona Police Association.
"Tickets, if you stop and really look at them very pragmatically, are punitive,'' said Levi Bolton, the group's executive director. But he told lawmakers that most officers would prefer to "educate the conduct right out of you.''
He said just seeing those flashing lights in the rear view mirror and having to answer an officer's questions probably accomplishes a lot of that.
And Bolton said defensive driving school accomplishes much of the same thing.
Don Isaacson, lobbyist for State Farm Insurance, disagreed.
"Traffic schools have very limited value,'' he said.
"What they do is mask violations,'' Isaacson continued, making them invisible to insurance companies when they check a motorist's record. And that, he said, is important.
"The more citations you have, the more likely you are to have accidents down the road,'' Isaacson said, which is why insurers need to know that -- and set premiums accordingly.
In fact, he argued, there is a study which shows that wiping out tickets actually creates a worse driver.
"The crash rate's higher for those that go to school because they lose the incentive'' to drive safer,'' Isaacson said.
Rep. Rick Gray, R-Sun City, wasn't buying it.
He said a lot of "little old ladies'' from his district who are driving with the flow of traffic get cited by photo radar cameras the City of El Mirage has installed on Grand Avenue.
"I don't look at them as really flagrant law bashers,'' Gray said. "They're just people that make mistakes.''
And he said they should be given the opportunity to wipe out one citation a year.
Marc Osborne, lobbyist for Farmer's Insurance, also argued that letting people wipe out a ticket a year removes the incentive to drive better.
"The punitive nature of the traffic citation helps keep them honest,'' he argued.
But Rep. Sonny Borrell, R-Lake Havasu City, disputed Osborne's contention that traffic schools amounts to a "get out of jail free'' card.
He said there's the cost of the traffic school plus having to give up a Saturday to attend a class.
"It was a deterrent for me,'' Borrelli said.
Not all citations can be wiped out with traffic school. Anyone running a red light has to attend an eight-hour class. And even then the ticket remains on someone's record.
The measure now needs approval by the full House.
Without dissent, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved legislation Tuesday that says a motorist can attend defensive driving as often as once every 12 months to wipe out a citation. Now, drivers are eligible to go only once every 24 months.
What's important about that is not the money: It costs as much to attend a class or take the course online as it does to pay the ticket.
But completing the course means the violation does not show up on someone's driving record -- the record that insurance companies use to determine premiums. And that's precisely why a parade of insurance industry lobbyists showed up in opposition.
Several lawmakers said they heard the industry's concerns. But that did not stop the panel from approving HB 2411 unanimously.
The measure is being pushed by the Arizona Police Association.
"Tickets, if you stop and really look at them very pragmatically, are punitive,'' said Levi Bolton, the group's executive director. But he told lawmakers that most officers would prefer to "educate the conduct right out of you.''
He said just seeing those flashing lights in the rear view mirror and having to answer an officer's questions probably accomplishes a lot of that.
And Bolton said defensive driving school accomplishes much of the same thing.
Don Isaacson, lobbyist for State Farm Insurance, disagreed.
"Traffic schools have very limited value,'' he said.
"What they do is mask violations,'' Isaacson continued, making them invisible to insurance companies when they check a motorist's record. And that, he said, is important.
"The more citations you have, the more likely you are to have accidents down the road,'' Isaacson said, which is why insurers need to know that -- and set premiums accordingly.
In fact, he argued, there is a study which shows that wiping out tickets actually creates a worse driver.
"The crash rate's higher for those that go to school because they lose the incentive'' to drive safer,'' Isaacson said.
Rep. Rick Gray, R-Sun City, wasn't buying it.
He said a lot of "little old ladies'' from his district who are driving with the flow of traffic get cited by photo radar cameras the City of El Mirage has installed on Grand Avenue.
"I don't look at them as really flagrant law bashers,'' Gray said. "They're just people that make mistakes.''
And he said they should be given the opportunity to wipe out one citation a year.
Marc Osborne, lobbyist for Farmer's Insurance, also argued that letting people wipe out a ticket a year removes the incentive to drive better.
"The punitive nature of the traffic citation helps keep them honest,'' he argued.
But Rep. Sonny Borrell, R-Lake Havasu City, disputed Osborne's contention that traffic schools amounts to a "get out of jail free'' card.
He said there's the cost of the traffic school plus having to give up a Saturday to attend a class.
"It was a deterrent for me,'' Borrelli said.
Not all citations can be wiped out with traffic school. Anyone running a red light has to attend an eight-hour class. And even then the ticket remains on someone's record.
The measure now needs approval by the full House.
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