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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