Yeah, Central, that’s AMEX, 341-1111-1111-1111, Expires 12/10
Gosh… I’d like to report more Good Ideas, but STUPID ones just keep coming at me…
Stupid things like “crash taxes” or “aid fees” as they are sometimes called:
Imagine you’re cruising down the road when you hit a patch of black ice and slide into a guardrail. A passing motorist calls 911. Soon firetrucks and police arrive.
Weeks later, a $1,400 bill does, too — for the cost of the police and firefighters who answered the call. What’s worse, it’s not covered by insurance, and it might scar your credit if you ignore it.
This is called kicking somebody when they are already down. It isn’t right. If we didn’t pay taxes already then maybe. But we pay for these people through broad based taxes and expect them to help us when we have trouble.
Also, do I get to decide how many police or fire people show up at my accident? Didn’t think so. Do you think that they might pile on when word gets out a rich dude is turned over? Or somebody they didn’t like. The whole area, like ticket giving in general, is rife with corruption opportunities.
Bad idea!
H/T: TaxProf
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 pm
It sounds hardly practical to construct an emergency response system that first surveys every conscious and apparently rational adult involved on whether help should be called, and if so, which responders from Columns A, B, and C should be summoned for each person. At least one responder would have to come just to conduct the survey. Perhaps that first responder should be a lawyer employed by the jurisdiction supplying the responders. By the time the decisions are set and the proper responders summoned, one of the unconscious children could be permanently injured. As usual, the simple desire for smaller cheaper government runs afoul of the practicalities of government functions. Better to see the $1400 bill as an insurance premium.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:26 pm
I’ve noticed a tendency for fire and ambulance folks to pressure people to ride in the anbulance to get looked at, often for injuries I could see were not at all serious, certainly nothing you couldn’t drive yourself to the ER for. These people will get a big surprise when the $1000 bill comes and their insurance company refuses to pay.
We don’t care. We get nothing extra for our services. I would like to see a charge for all the bogus 911 hangup calls we go on. We go on more of those then false burglary alarms. Usually its idiots who let their two year old play with the phone, or people from other countries who can’t figure out how to dial Mexico.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Charging and having insurance pay will just cause the cost to rise. The right way is to view this as a public service and accept that crashes are generally not wanted by those involved. Perhaps in the case of reckless driving they could be charged, but not generally.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
It should be a public service in higher density population areas. My local fire station spends more time taking the trucks on food and nursing home runs than accidents. In poor rural areas there might be a legitimate “aid fee” for milage that at fault drivers pay.