City Hits Speeders for Gas It Takes to Chase 'Em Down

Speeding tickets are never fun to get – so imagine how much more it would hurt if you had to pay for the gas that propelled the police car that chased you down!

Police in Holly Springs, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, are adding a $12 fuel surcharge to speeding tickets and other moving violations to cover the cost of patrolling the community's streets with gasoline at $4 a gallon.

Seems the city's fuel budget is disappearing faster than a box of Krispy Kremes at morning roll call, according to a USA Today report posted on AOL Money.

Holly Springs Police Chief Ken Ball told USA Today that almost 60 percent of the city' annual fuel fund has been gulped down by its police cars and a few other city vehicles with more than half the year left to go.

He also said – get ready, America – that his office has been "inundated" with calls from other cities inquiring about the speeding ticket fuel surcharge program...

In nearby Atlanta, the city council just voted to approve a fuel surcharge that would add $10 to $15 to fines for a variety of moving violations.

We wouldn't expect the cop shops to use 'em in every instance, but if they'd buy a couple of hybrid vehicles for speed-trap duty, they'd save a few bucks – and be greener – by not burning gas and spewing pollutants while hiding behind those billboards, lying in wait for us!

Or, as the classic photo above illustrates, try what they tried in Turkey a while ago and use a life-sized cutout of a patrol car -- that'll slow traffic with absolutely no expenditure of fuel or manpower.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Posted by

John O'Dell June 19, 2008, 5:35 PM

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