The slowed economy has broken the financial backs of many local municipalities and communities. Among the hardest hit in California has been local public service departments, such as the police and fire departments. The northern region of San Diego County is no stranger to financial pain, but some communities here have found an inventive way to spread the discomfort to others.
Eight months ago, the North County Fire Protection District was the first in the county to start charging everyone – residents and outsiders, at-fault and not-at-fault – for auto accident service calls. In other words, if you’re involved in an accident on or near I-15, you will get a bill from the Fire Protection District if they respond to your accident. It does not matter whether they respond to clean up an accident scene or to rescue a person trapped in a vehicle, everyone is going to get a bill.
There was a time when providing rescue services was assumed to be part of the taxes that you paid. That is no longer the case. So, how much will you be billed? NCFPD currently charges anywhere from $435 to $2,100 depending on how much equipment they have to deploy. They use a collection agency to retrieve the accident report to see which party was at fault and then bill the insurance company accordingly. The collection company gets to keep anywhere from 15 to 20% of that amount.
You don’t have to be a genius to know two things will happen:
1) The insurance companies are going to pass this billing back to its customers in the form of higher rates for all.
2) People will be more willing to flee the scene of an accident if they believe that they are likely to be billed an additional $2,100 for being involved in an accident in first place.
Accidents are always costly. But if you are going to have an accident in northern San Diego county, be sure to avoid having one around I-15. It will be cheaper.
Other related posts:
