
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 28, 1993                   TAG: 9307290451
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

END THE DEMERIT SYSTEM

IT'S A joke that one out of eight Virginians has lost the privilege to drive. Let's face it, the law-enforcement community is dishing out traffic tickets faster than a hacker can lose golf balls at Hanging Rock. Virginians are subjects of acute ticketitis. Consequently, drivers are accumulating too many Division of Motor Vehicle points and losing their permits.

Excessive demerits from minor traffic violations is the culprit. There are not 680,000 scoffers thumbing their noses at the state. The massive majority have fulfilled their debt to society by paying their fines and court costs. Labeling so many citizens as unfit to drive is baloney.

Solutions do not include hiring more meter-maids, seizing cars or sticking scarlet letters on license plates. Good intentions aside, these steps would unjustly persecute safe drivers with poor driving habits.

Let's get rid of the demerit system that cannot distinguish "unrepentant killers" from drivers who pose no threat. Certainly, we would have less Virginians with suspended licenses who need to drive to earn a living. In the meantime, I would reinstate every suspended license unless the state could prove the driver is a danger to society.

In addition, many of our public servants need to attend charm school and curtail the practice of throwing the book at every Virginian who breaks a minor law. KEITH D. FRAZIER SALEM

by CNB