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Scofflaw Drivers Get Last Laugh

South Burlington, Vermont -- July 28, 2003

Hundreds of Vermont scofflaws are having the last laugh at the expense of state lawmakers.

It's all thanks to a new law that makes Vermont the only state in the nation where, in most cases, driving without a license is no longer a crime.

America's rules of the road have always been brutally simple: if you get a ticket, pay the fine or your license will be suspended, and driving under suspension is a crime punishable by prison. Now those are still the rules of the road in every state except Vermont.

Last spring the Vermont legislature decriminalized driving with a suspended license except for those suspended for drunk driving or felony reckless driving.

The lawmakers changed the law at the urging of state court administrators who convinced them that dls is a minor offense that had been needlessly choking the clogged criminal dockets.

So as of July first driving under suspension in Vermont became a civil offense that carries a $200 ticket. But under that new law suspended drivers cannot be sentenced to prison even if they never pay any fines and no matter how many times they are caught driving without a license.

Winooski Police Chief Steve McQueen and the Vermont Police Chiefs Association opposed the change in the law. They claim it's absurd to enforce a law that has no punishment.

"There is no incentive for people who are currently under suspension to get their licenses back or to even pay the violation when it's written because there's no ultimate sanction which currently was the potential of jail or jail conditions," says Chief Steve McQueen of the Winooski Police Dept.

Chittenden County prosecutor Robert Simpson says he initially supported the change because it forced him to dismiss more than 150 pending driving with license suspended cases from his crowded caseload. But now he's having second thoughts.

"The idea of decriminalizing was not a mistake. But there has to be some incentive for people to comply with the law and pay their speeding tickets. 28:08 It's certainly a mistake if there's no incentive to pay the speeding tickets at this point," says Simpson.

A legislative summer study committee is already considering changing the law to once again include prison as a possible penalty for suspended drivers.

Brian Joyce -- Channel 3 News