Politics

Oceanside Rescinds Crash Tax

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published March 17, 2011 at 12:01 PM PDT

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

The city of Oceanside has repealed a fee levied on people involved in traffic accidents. The so-called “crash tax” did not prove to be an effective way to raise extra revenue.

Oceanside had hoped to raise more than $200,000 from the crash tax by charging non-residents a fee if they got into an accident within city limits.

However, so far the city has raised less than $20,000.

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Opponents of the fee said it unfairly penalized visitors to the city. Supporters said the city needs to cover the cost of emergency response from police, fire and ambulance if non resident drivers are in accidents. They said the fee could raise more money once the fire department gets used to filing the paperwork.

The insurance industry has balked at paying the fees and says premiums will go up if they are forced to cover these costs. Legislation is pending in Sacramento.

Nine other states have already outlawed the fee.

Meanwhile, the City of Vista plans to start charging a crash tax to help balance its budget next year.

Politics

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.