Faced with the ongoing economic crisis, municipalities across North America are reaching ever deeper into the pockets of motorists.

Politicians dare not whisper the “t-word” (taxes), but public-funded budgets must be balanced, which is why cities, states, and provinces are

to make their drivers a revenue stream.

As usual, the government officials behind these initiatives claim it’s all being done in the name of safety. But as Thomas Garrett, vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, wrote in a study titled “Red Ink in the Rearview Mirror: Local Fiscal Conditions and the Issuance of Traffic Tickets”: “Our results suggest that

are used as a rather than solely a means to increase public safety.” Here are some of the worst offenders:

1. PORTLAND, OREGON

Infraction: Previous fine: New fine: $34. That’s a 42-percent increase, and don’t even think of parking in a handicap zone; if you don’t have a permit, the $190 fine is now $450—a 137-percent hike.

Date of increase: Rationale: “We do not put fines in place to make money,” says Susan Keil, the city’s transportation bureau director. “We put fines in place to change behavior.”

2. STATE OF COLORADO

Infraction : Previous fine: New fine: $135 for driving 10 to 19 mph over “reasonable and prudent speed”—a 170-percent increase.

Date of increase: Rationale: “Our fines in Colorado are three times lower than in Massachusetts and Vermont. We haven’t actually raised traffic fines in about three decades in Colorado,” says the bill’s sponsor, State House Transportation Committee chair Buffie McFayden of Pueblo.

3. ONTARIO, CANADA

Infraction: Previous fine: New fine: Date of increase: Rationale: “Higher fines for convictions will be another effective tool to help make Ontario roads safer,” says Julian Fantino, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner, “especially if it gets the attention of irresponsible and reckless drivers.”

4. STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Infraction: Previous fine: New fine: Date of increase: Rationale: This increase alone raised some $220 million last year, earmarked for renovation and construction costs at 40 state courthouses. The fine apparently varies by area; it’s a flat $100 for the offense, then the city and county jurisdictions where it occurred, along with the state, split about $350 of tacked-on fines.

5. BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Infraction: Parking, specifically “non-emergency repair to a vehicle,” part of a package of “enhanced” parking fines

Previous fine: New fine: Date of increase: Rationale: Boston Transportation Commissioner Thomas J. Tinlin says: “Let me emphasize that if you don’t park illegally in Boston, you will not be affected by this action.”

6. STATE OF GEORGIA

Infraction: Previous fine: New fine: A state fine of $200 for driving 85 mph or faster on highways and 75 mph or faster on two-lane roads, issued in addition to the local speeding ticket (typically more than $100).

Date of increase: Rationale: “It’s a lifesaving law,” says Bob Dallas, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “At some point, we just have to put an end to the superspeeders and using our roadways as a racetrack.” Not seeing it quite that way is Sheriff J. Tyson Stephens of Emanuel County, who says the $200 state fine is little more than a tax that will impose an out-of-kilter burden on the working poor.

7. DALLAS, TEXAS

Infraction: Previous fine: New fine: Date of increase: Rationale: “With Dallas facing its worst budget crisis in a generation, the City Council unanimously voted to increase parking-meter fees and illegal parking fines in hopes of generating revenue.” —Dallas Morning News

8. STATE OF FLORIDA

Infraction: Speeding, 10 to 14 mph over the limit

Previous fine: New fine: Date of increase: Rationale: The revenue from the increases in fines goes to a state-courts revenue trust fund. “The hope is that this is the first step in trying to secure a more stable funding source for the court,” says Lisa Goodner, state courts administrator. But local police are less enthusiastic. Capt. Dennis Strow of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office says: “Let’s be honest. There’s not that many of us who on any given day don’t violate a traffic law. You’ve got to make the punishment fit the crime.”

And, one we can actually agree with:

9. GERMANY

Infraction: Staying in the left lane of the Previous fine: New fine: Date of increase: Rationale: Improve road safety. “Up to now, the fines in Germany were rather low compared with other European countries,” says Lt. Col. Lon Walker, the OPM’s (U.S. Army Europe Office of the Provost Marshal) chief of law-enforcement operations.

Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q2/hard_times_bigger_fines_governments_raising_fines_to_balance_their_budgets-feature