Driving without a legal license or insurance never looked so unattractive with new $500 vehicle-impound fee

A new $500 Police Department motor-vehicle seizure fee, which goes into effect on Monday, is sure to surprise and anger drunk drivers and those driving without licenses and insurance as it raises significant funds for the department.

The Police Department on Wednesday estimated that more than 25 percent of its 10,000 arrests a year come from violators who drive drunk or drive without legal licenses or insurance.

Some quick math says the department would raise $1.25 million a year if 2,500 vehicles are seized during those traffic stops, which are subject to the new $500 civil fee.

Police Sgt. Joe Clark saikd the fee won't bring in that much because, currently, one-third of those whose vehicles are seized by the department never claim them. He estimates that percentage could climb to 50 percent now that owners will have to pay the new $500 fee, plus existing tow and impound fees before they get their vehicles back.

Police Chief Greg Graham on Wednesday said he expects the new fee to bring in at least $200,000 for the nine months left in the current budget year.

The fee, he suggested, could end up changing behavior: Those who are driving without required insurance can forego the $500 fee for a first offense if they go out and buy insurance.

"This is not about revenue," Chief Graham said. "This is about holding people accountable for their actions and reducing crime. The insurance aspect of this is to get people to comply with the law."

The City Council recently approved the new fee, seeing it, in part, as a way for the department to recoup costs when its police officers are called to motor-vehicle stops in which the vehicle is towed off to the impound lot. The new city ordinance will require a vehicle to be seized in a variety of  traffic stops. But the majority of cases will involve drunk driving  or instances in which the driver doesn't have a license or insurance. In the latter, the car will be seized and impounded even if someone else in the vehicle does have license and insurance or if the vehicle is owned by someone else.

The vehicle can't be reclaimed until the typical towing and impound fees are paid as well as the new $500 fee.