I can't friggen believe it, the Fire Department of New York will now charge drivers a fee when they respond to accident calls. Are home fires next?
From the NY Times:
Francis X. Gribbon, the Fire Department’s chief spokesman, said the plan — a draft rule of which was published Thursday in the City Record — would include a range of fees. The highest fee, $490, would apply when fire units respond to the locations of crashes or car fires that include injuries. For car fires with no injuries, the fee would be $415, Mr. Gribbon said. And for crashes in which no one is hurt, the fee would be $365, he said.
The thought that services that are taxpayer provided will now be fee for service is yet another sign that the priorities of our citizens have been clouded by the disease of greed. Is not New York one of the economic powerhouses of this country? How will this bode to the rest of the country?
There is hope, from the NYT article:
On Friday, Peter F. Vallone Jr., the chairman of the Council’s public safety committee, began drawing up legislation “to ban any city agency from charging fees for public-safety services without City Council approval,” he said.
The thought was that these costs will be picked up by the insurance company. From the Consumerist:
The invoices will be sent directly to the driver, who can then choose to pass it on to their insurance company
The insurance industry has other ideas about who should pay. From the NYT article:
On the insurance question, James J. Wrynn, the superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department said, “Our understanding of the current status of automobile insurance policies is that this would not be a cost that they would pick up, under the physical damage coverage portion of a standard policy.”
So who will be paying? The taxpayers of New York city operate under the correct impression that they will have emergency services available, as they do pay taxes for such.
This also brings up other problems having accidents and not reporting them to avoid this fee. From the Consumerist:
"We have concerns that some motorists might be less likely to call police to crash scenes, allowing drunk drivers, uninsured drivers, drivers with suspended licenses, and others to go undetected," said a rep for the organization.