The Driver Responsibility Program: A Texas-Sized Failure

  

Report: The Driver Responsibility Program: A Texas-Sized Failure (Feb 2013)

Fact Sheet: H.B. 104 Fact Sheet [Legislation to Repeal the Program] (Feb 2013)

Texas’ Driver Responsibility Program (DRP) was created by the Legislature in 2003 to encourage more responsible driving and to generate revenue for the state. Under the program, the Texas Department of Public Safety levies annual, administrative surcharges on the drivers’ licenses of persons convicted of certain traffic offenses; half of the funds go towards repaying Texas trauma hospitals, which absorb hundreds of millions of dollars in uncompensated healthcare costs every year.

Despite its good intentions, the DRP has created more problems than it has solved. TCJC’s new report details the multiple failures of the DRP:
  • It has failed to collect predicted surcharge fees, with extremely low collection rates; modifications to the program to improve surcharge collections have similarly failed.
  • It has potentially decreased public safety, especially by failing to improve driver behavior as it relates to drunk driving – one of the principal causes of traffic fatalities in Texas.
  • It has led to more unlicensed, uninsured motorists, with great costs to Texas arising from accidents among these drivers.
  • It has adversely impacted the state’s court system, increasing courts’ caseload backlogs, while raising counties’ court and jail costs.
  • It poses substantial and disproportionate financial hardship on low-income drivers and families.
Due to these failures, TCJC’s report recommends that the Legislature repeal the DRP. The report also offers alternative sources of funding for Texas hospitals.