by Jack Lee
Do you ever get the feeling that your state must have it in for drivers? Tolls, taxes, fines, late penalties, suspensions and revocations, lousy roads, traffic congestion, cops hiding behind billboards, radar traps, absurd rules and a heavy bureaucracy? Does it seem like you are being punished just for owning a vehicle and you are constantly being shafted by the DMV?
A comprehensive study was recently completed by Vincentric Corp. and they looked at the five year cost of ownership, this would include sales tax and annual registration fees, gas taxes, prices of gasoline, license fees for both cars and drivers and the percentage of roads and bridges that have tolls. But, they didn’t stop there. They also looked at speed limits, the point system to track driving offenses, the number of red light cameras, speed cameras, and radar enforcement. The third area of inspection was road conditions and traffic congestion, emission standards, safety checks and front license plate requirement.
Guess who finished in first place for driver heaven? Would you believe Wyoming, followed by Montana, North Dakota, Utah, Mississippi, South Dakota, Kentucky and Alaska in that order. And where did the rich golden state of California place? Dead last…this place is driver’s hell. New York ranked 44th! Did you ever think you would see the day that New York would beat out California in tolls, fees, and road conditions?
The state of the state: Our credit rating is shot, the legislature has misspent until we are virtually broke and we (taxpayers) have got almost nothing in return for all the spending and taxation. Illegal immigration here is extremely disproportionate compared to other states and it is reflected in our schools, hospitals, welfare and even in the prison population. Speaking of schools, we almost in last place there too, we are flunking despite education being the state’s single biggest expenditure. Where’s the results for all the school funding? Where’s the money going, double dipping administrators or what? We’re over taxed, 2nd highest in the nation (we would be #1 if it were not for Prop 13) and our property values have plummeted. Lets not even talk about crime and gangs! We’re really in bad shape there. Now we learn that we are in last place when it comes to the cost and trouble of owning a vehicle! What else could go wrong, is there anything else left to screw up? Thank you democrats you’ve done your best to destroy this state and you’ve succeeded.
No wonder we have so many businesses fleeing this state.