BF2S Forums California: 'At Fault Driver' gets bill from Firefighters to clean up

North County Times wrote:

FALLBROOK ---- Starting this month, if you're to blame for a traffic wreck in the Fallbrook area, your insurance company will get a bill for the time and effort it takes firefighters to clean up your mess.

The new fee, or "crash tax," as some opponents call it, is not unique to the North County Fire Protection District, which serves roughly 50,000 people from Fallbrook to Bonsall to Rainbow.

Similar charges have been approved across California and the nation in recent months as cash-strapped local governments try to balance their recession-wracked budgets. Fire departments from Fresno to Hemet to Spring Valley are considering similar programs or have already put them in place, said Chief Bill Metcalf of the Fallbrook-area district.

Insurance companies are the main opponents. They call the fee "double taxation," noting that homeowners already pay property taxes to cover emergency response.

Metcalf, however, said the charge is a fair way to recover costs during a tough economic time.

"The only person that will pay is the insurance company of the at-fault driver," the chief said by phone last week. "People who aren't at fault, they or their insurance company won't experience any payment."

Bills will range from $435 (€312) to $2,100 (€1,504) depending on the severity of the car wreck and service required. The charges were calculated based on per-hour labor and equipment costs, Metcalf said.

If firefighters simply help with traffic control and clean up spilled gasoline, the cost will be less than $500 (€358). But if their response involves battling a car fire, helping victims with oxygen masks, cutting apart a car to rescue victims and helping a medical helicopter land, then the cost will jump to $2,100 (€1,504), according to the district's plan.

Last edited by Harmor (2009-06-05 18:15:54)