Arizona Governor Jan Brewer recently signed a bill to stop local communities from charging at-fault drivers a fee for accident response services. Arizona is the 12th state to prohibit the practice.
House Bill 2003 ends local government efforts to assess fees for emergency response services at a motor vehicle accident scene. Exceptions included rural area accidents occurring outside a designated fire district along with other previously mandated fees.
"Public safety is the primary duty of local government and is paid for through property and other local taxes, so Arizona residents should not have to pay twice for emergency response services," said Kelly Campbell, vice president for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) in Insurancejournal.com. "We applaud lawmakers for responding to the strong public opposition to this new trend of charging accident response fees. Ultimately these fees are a back-door tax that most consumers believe are unnecessary."
Three out of four Arizonans - 77 percent - believe taxes already cover the emergency response costs of a traffic accident, according to a Harris Interactive poll. Therefore, most Arizona drivers believe extra accident response fees are unwarranted. The Arizona response reflects that of state residents nationwide, according to industry experts. "There is strong public opposition across the country to this new trend of charging accident response fees," said Robert Passmore, senior director, personal lines for PCI.
The American Insurance Association (AIA) added that these so-called "crash taxes," still under debate in numerous states, can have a negative impact on driver safety, because drivers anticipating a fee for emergency services may be inclined to pass up much needed services after an accident.
If you have been injured in a car accident, contact an experienced personal injury attorney to discuss the compensation that may be available to you.
