I’ll start with how I don’t appreciate two people responding to me with nonsense, including their “research” which consisted of typing something in Google and providing the first link found to “prove” something I stated as fact isn’t accurate; while not being given the opportunity to set the record straight. While these posts were off the thread’s topic, they could’ve been moved to a new thread instead of deleted.

There is a difference between research and looking something up, those who responded to me did the latter. In doing this, those that posted provided information which had nothing to do with what I posted, thereby “proving” nothing. Using the same style of “research” that was done, I can find enough information to “prove” the world is flat…but I really hope we all know that is not true.

When I stated only a small amount of a traffic ticket goes to the issuing municipality, I was stating a fact. This was in response to an erroneous post stating how a local police department sets up speed traps and DUI checkpoints to generate revenue. When I stated this, I was in no way referring to what happens in other states; and really didn’t (and still don’t) feel it should be required to specify such considering it was in response to what happens locally, in a forum for a club that operates locally, and whose membership largely consists of those who live in the local area. Yet the respondents somehow thought showing “evidence” of what happens elsewhere (even while stating this doesn’t seem to happen in the northeast, and last I checked, Pennsylvania is in the northeastern quadrant of the continental United States) would prove how inaccurate my statement was.

While things may have increased since the most recent information I have, the overall information below is from 2013:

The typical traffic violation in Pennsylvania is $127.50, and then another $8 if a hearing is requested:

$8 goes to the state for Judicial Computer Program fees – this is to pay for the computer program the issuing officer uses when filing the citation.

$2 goes to the Access to Justice Account – this provides legal representation for those who can not afford it in civil cases.

$7.50 goes to the Emergency Medical Service system to support EMS in rural areas.

$2.50 goes to what is known as the CAT fund.

$45 is known as the “traffic surcharge”, this goes to various places including the state General Fund, the Public Transportation Trust Fund, etc.

$37.50 is court costs (becomes $45.50 if a hearing is requested) – this is exactly what it says, and supports various court funds

This leaves the $25 fine. The traffic fine in and of itself is only $25. If the fine is for speeding, the speed determines the amount of the fine, which begins with $35 for exceeding the maximum speed limit by more than five miles per hour, then an additional $2 per mile over the limit is assessed. This money is shared by state, county, police department, and municipality. The percentage of this $25 varies from place to place within the state. Even if split evenly (which it isn’t), that means $6.25 for each.

Considering a traffic stop can take a half hour to complete, if the issuing officer makes $25 per hour (they all make different amounts of money, I’m just throwing out a reasonable number here), the cost of just writing the ticket exceeds the revenue generated from that ticket.

The traffic fine for a DUI begins at $300, and goes up depending on BAC and previous offenses. The larger expenses of receiving a DUI come from attorney fees, court-imposed fines, and court costs, something the issuing municipality does not receive. Even on that $300+ ticket, the municipality still only receives a small fraction of that money (if all percentages are even as in above, that means a whopping $14.71 for the municipality). When there is a DUI checkpoint, a large percentage of those officers manning the checkpoint are being paid overtime, which costs the municipalities and law enforcement agencies even more money. While there are grants to cover those costs, the grants don’t cover all costs of the checkpoint.

As I stated, no municipality or police department is setting up speed traps and other such things for the sole purpose of writing tickets so they can generate revenue as it is a losing endeavor.