The detriment of the Driver Responsibility Program on the common man

- SR-22 Letter -

I'm getting on the job training regarding the Driver Responsibility Program in Texas. I'm trying to help someone out with their tickets and here is how it goes: get tickets for not having insurance; pay tickets; pay surcharges; file an sr-22, even if you don't have a vehicle, which means you have to buy insurance just to walk around, and you have to maintain that for two years; then pay $100 to get your license reinstated.

That is too much for a very organized person to deal with, much less a regular guy barely getting by, and I mean organizationally as well as monetarily. Oh, and by the way, after paying $780 in surcharges, they sent a notice charging for them, again.

Here is where I can use one of my favorite sayings, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

According to a recent article in the Texas Tribune, there was consideration for getting rid of the program during this legislative session, but that was kiboshed in the senate.

I heard Nolan County attorney Lisa Peterson talking on KXOX radio one morning a couple of weeks ago about the undue burden the surcharges of this program puts on poor people. When someone can't pay or figure out the complicated labyrinth that has to be navigated to get in the clear, they end up in even more dutch with the law.

The person I helped with the tickets had insurance, just didn't have proof, and waited seven years to take care of the citations.