A tax by any other name

Like most people, I scour the web for interesting bits of information to blog about.  The info I picked up today is how to avoid a speeding ticket.  Let's face it, getting a traffic ticket often leaves people feeling they've just been mugged and is the single best way to mess-up your mojo for the rest of the day.

The question I have is what is the true purpose of a traffic ticket?  For our purposes, a traffic ticket is a notice that you violated some vehicle law (real or imagined).  Surfing around the internet, I discovered that the first traffic ticket was issued in the late 1800's to a taxi driver in New York.  I suspect back in the day, the purpose of traffic tickets was initially to protect people from speeding hunks of metal (what with most people still being propelled by a horse and buggy).  I'm guessing, though, that it didn't take governments the world over to realize that tickets meant BIG money and that the more tickets they issued, the more money they could squeeze from their constituents.

Once upon a time, the Internal Revenue "Service" (aka IRS) was saddled the responsibility to collected revenue for the government.  With the invention of the traffic ticket, local municipalities were able to get into the taxation by citation game.  Oops, did I say that?!  The problem is that cities don't like to call tickets a "tax."  Come on - call it what it is.  Traffic tickets are a tax and designed to do one thing - pad the coffers of local, state, and federal agencies.  Whether it's a traffic "ticket", a property "assessment," or one of obamacare's health plans - they're all a tax by any other name.

Want to read up on how to avoid a traffic ticket or fight a ticket after you get one?  Might I suggest you head over to your local county law library and take a look at:

• Fight Your Ticket and Win in California (Nolo Press)
• Blashfield Automobile Law and Practice (West)
• Defense of Speeding, Reckless Driving, and Vehicular Homicide (Lexis)

So, next time you're barreling down the road, keep in mind that if you ever get pulled over by the boys in blue that your county law library might just have what you need to help get you off the hook.