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LA County Wants 'Grossly Unfair' Ticket Amnesty For All Drivers

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — If you have an unpaid traffic ticket from the state of California, you could be eligible to cash in on a discount — unless you already tried to pay off your fine.

KNX 1070's Bob Brill reports now one Los Angeles County supervisor wants to extend those savings to more drivers here in the Southland.

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Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the Board of Supervisors is lobbying Sacramento to extend its ticket amnesty to every driver in California who is delinquent on any moving violation.

Yaroslavsky argued that scofflaws could be rewarded while those looking to take responsibility for their actions may end up being forced to pay more in fines.

"It stands logic on its head, it's grossly unfair," Yaroslavsky said.

Any ticket received before January 1, 2009, that has not been at least partially paid is eligible for the discount.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to request that the state expand the program to include people who have made partial payments on their tickets.

State officials estimate as much as $900 million in uncollected revenue remains on unpaid tickets, and the program could bring in as much as $46 million.

But beyond the economic benefits to the state, one Southland driver is simply looking for a little fairness.

"If you're going to do something like that, it should probably be equal for everyone," he said. "If everyone's going to pay half, then make sure everyone pays half."

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