On this here web log, we have long documented the unique ability of greater Sacramentans to DIY their own garages, often into unsuspecting stationary structures that happened to be built at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Leave it to the gubment to find a way to make this a revenue stream:
Sacramento is the latest city to be considering what many call, a “crash tax.” It’s a product of the recession. More and more fire departments are charging out-of-town drivers for cleaning up car crashes.
Note the “out-of-town”. If you live here, you’re still good.
Oh, this isn’t a product of local drivers smashing into local buildings. Let’s not target the innocent, now, and actually try to prevent the behavior. This is about our “tough economic times”:
“We’re not reinventing the wheel, ” said Captain Jonathan Burgess with the Sacramento City Fire Department. “It’s already being done so we are following suit, with the economic climate we may see a lot of departments going this way.”
The Sacramento City Fire Department responds to about 3,600 car accidents a year and charging non-residents a response fee ranging from $400 to $2,200 dollars could bring in a million dollars a year.
“Half the people here are probably non-residents, that’s a lot of money,” said Sacramento resident, Nick Burruel.
Re-inventing the wheel might actually help here. Not only would a potentially re-invented wheel help drivers not crash and reduce the number of such crashes, it would in turn reduce the tax windfall from —
Never mind.
The Sac Rag 
Eventually, when every town has a “crash fee”, they’ll add this on to your auto insurance. Emergency response coverage.
The result: People like me, who are excellent drivers and have never been in an accident, will have to pay higher rates to pay for others who are careless.
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Jeeze Stickie- that’s my beef with pretty much every “gubment” program that “helps the needy.” I have pay for:
people to have more kids than they can afford
people who bought bigger houses than they could afford
people who decided not to buy health insurance
etc…
The careless don’t have the ability to pay. So gubment turns to those who DO have the ability to pay (the careful, who try to live modestly, behave responsibly, and pay their own way) to subsidize the careless. Such only encourages more carelessness (“what do I care if I get knocked up again- I’ll just get more money”), and further deprives the careful. What’s the point of trying to be careful and plan ahead when 1) it’ll just get taken from you and 2) it doesn’t matter if you plan ahead or not- either way you still get the benefit.
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Most of the Midwestern cities I’ve lived in charged you for calling the fire department or causing a crash in which road crews had to be called to clean up the mess. I think this is a just “tax,” especially since so many people in Sac, local or otherwise, drive like the proverbial bats outta hell. As for insurance companies, there is frequently no just reason for them to raise premiums. You can have a perfect driving record, but as soon as you turn 55, ZOOM! Your premiums skyrocket by as much as 25 percent, just because you’ve reached geezerhood.
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You need to check with AAA for auto insurance. We have our home policy with them (extra discount) and auto insurance and receive several discounts from them including good driver, long time insured with them (extra discount) AND senior discount. Two drivers (over 60), two cars (1999 and 2005), $900.00/year out the door total.
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It pains me to pay for insurance and not utilize it… One time I got to drive around in a rental car that was better than the one they were fixing for an entire month. Love that “accident forgiveness” clause.
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