Speeding tickets off a record

Fewer speeding violations could end up on state driving records.

Under current law, a ticket does not appear on someone’s driving record if the person was driving up to 10 mph over the speed limit in a 55 mph zone, or 5 mph over the limit in a 60 mph zone.

Sponsored by Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City), HF537 would add the 10 mph threshold to the 60 mph limit.

The bill was passed 111-20 by the House May 10. It now goes to the Senate, where a sponsor is needed.

“If you speed, you are still breaking the law. It does not change the penalty; it does not change the speed limit; it simply changes the reporting,” Urdahl said. He emphasized the bill has nothing to do with raising speed limits, it’s only about not recording infractions to the state and that insurance companies will not up driver rates. “People are already driving at the speeds at which they are comfortable.”

Enacted in 1986, the “Dimler amendment,” named for its sponsor, former Rep. Chuck Dimler (R-Chanhassen), governs which speeding violations are recorded on a driving record maintained by the Department of Public Safety.

Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul) noted that representatives from the Public Safety and Transportation departments spoke against the bill during the committee process. Among their concerns were that the increase would send the message that it is OK to speed, drivers tend to believe there is a “speed cushion” in excess of posted limit they can get away with, increasing that differential could lead to more severe traffic accidents and it goes against an educational campaign that the speed limit is the limit.

Urdahl said he wouldn’t proffer the bill if he believed it would cause more injuries and deaths. “I’m convinced there is no evidence that indicates that changing this law is going to cause these things to happen.”