US Speeders Pay For Police Fuel

Speeding motorists are forced to pay extra to fill up the tanks of patrol vehicles

By Oli S / Wednesday, 18 June 2008 / Loading comments

'One more speeder and we can fill up!'

Britain usually leads the world in fleecing motorists but a city council in the US has come up with a cunning scheme that even Gordon Brown hasn’t thought of. Yet. Police officers are now reportedly slapping a ‘fuel surcharge’ on speeding tickets to cover the rising costs of filling up their patrol vehicles.

The county council of Holly Springs, Atlanta,noticed that the price of fuel was making it more expensive to catch speeders and decided to add an extra £6 on top of speeding fines. The authorities passed the fee hike, which comes into effect on July 1, to cover fuel costs that have eaten up nearly 60% of the police department’s 2008 fuel budget.

The fee increase is expected to generate between £10,000 and £13,000 a year from the town’s 7,700 people and can be rescinded if fuel prices drop from £2 a gallon to £1.50. Police Chief Ken Ball said he was looking at ways to continue patrols despite the high prices.

‘I was hearing that Delta (Air Lines), pizza deliverers, florists were adding fuel charges to their services, and I thought, why not police departments?’ he said. It is now expected that other US cities will follow and Ball says his scheme has provoked a lot of interest.

‘I've heard from at least a dozen police chiefs and half a dozen city managers,' he said of the measure passed Monday night. ‘They want to know how we did it, and could we send them a copy of the ordinance.’