Autoblog

The current fine for using a mobile phone while driving in the UK is £60 and three points on your license. If you are caught driving unsafely while using a mobile phone or typing directions in the navi, the fine jumps to £2,500. Now, after a review by the Crown Prosecution Service which looked at types of bad driving and penalties, a new charge of "dangerous driving" has been added. That charge would require the driver to be doing something likely to kill or seriously endanger somebody, while fiddling with a device like a phone or MP3 player. If that was found, then the driver could spend two years in jail.

The finding of dangerous driving will be up to the prosecutor to prove and a jury to issue. However, it gives the courts a step between a fine and a 14-year sentence, which is the punishment for the more serious offense of death by dangerous driving. Its value as a deterrent is, of course, being debated. Some say the risk of 2 years in the pokey might finally get people to pay attention behind the wheel. Others say that enforcement of the current laws is so lax that people won't likely pay attention to this one. Any way you care to look at it, though, the UK is the last place you want to be swapping photos and trying to find the right playlist at the wheel.

[Source: This is London]

So they're not out to break a speeder's bank like Indiana, but Virginia has created a host of civil fines for speeders that will pay for the state's new annual $1 billion transportation package. That means that after July 1, not only will you get a bill from the judge for speeding, you will then get a much larger bill from the state. Fr'instance, drive without a license, pay $75 to the court and $900 to VA. Do 20 mph over the limit, pay $200 to the court, pay $1,050 to VA. We really love this one: if you have eight points on your license and get a speeding ticket, you'll pay an additional $75 for every point above eight, and another $100 for simply having more than eight points. That smacks of double jeopardy to us, but what do we know?

For the record, almost no one -- and not just speeders -- likes it. Court clerks are expecting to face the anger when people find out about the new fees at the courthouse window. Defense attorneys are getting ready for legal challenges. Judges are expecting people to start pleading not guilty to avoid paying the fees. Which means prosecutors will face more trials.

The "abuser fees" are only for "major" infractions, and only paid by Virginia residents. The new revenue will pay for building roads, snow removal, pothole repair, and grass mowing. David Albo, one of the legislative sponsors of the bill, took New Jersey's similar fee system as a template, and called it "a voluntary tax." After all, "if you don't commit a crime ... you don't pay anything."

Thanks for the tip, Josh

[Source: Washington Post]

For those who haven't heard, NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500 race this weekend has been marred by controversy from the rookie Toyota camp. On Sunday, Michael Waltrip had his No. 55 Toyota confiscated by NASCAR officials after inspectors found an odorless, Vaseline-like substance in the car's engine. Later in the week, NASCAR handed down punishment to Michael Waltrip Racing, which included the ejection of team vice president of competition Bobby Kennedy and Crew Chief David Hyder from the garage at Daytona. Hyder was also fined $100,000, the largest fine ever handed down by NASCAR. Waltrip himself was penalized with a loss of 100 drivers points and his qualifying time from pole day on Feb. 11th was thrown out. Elizabeth Waltrip, Michael's wife and the official owner of his car, was also docked 100 owners points.

Thanks for the tip, John!

[Source: ESPN.com]