A group of House members led by Rep. Tom Yewcic, D-Cambria, is pushing legislation that would ban fees such as those charged by Dunmore, which bills nonresident motorists for police and fire services at vehicle crashes.
The bill, now awaiting action in the House Local Government Committee, would prohibit any municipality from charging a fee or seeking reimbursement for costs associated with police response to a vehicle accident. Some lawmakers say they would like to broaden the language to include costs for fire departments and other emergency responders, too.
Several Northeastern Pennsylvania lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors of the measure, including Reps. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca; Merle Phillips, R-Sunbury; John Siptroth, D-Smithfield Township; and Jim Wansacz, D-Scott Township.
While it’s unclear how many municipalities charge the fees, they are used in at least 16 states and the number appears to be growing, according to Catherine Rossi, government affairs director for AAA Mid-Atlantic. Some municipalities, like Olyphant, briefly assessed the fees but stopped doing so after public complaints.
"Motorists should never be afraid to call the police because they may find a bill in the mail later," she told lawmakers during a recent hearing on Mr. Yewcic’s bill.
Also among the supporters of the proposed fee ban is the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, a trade association representing insurers.
"Do legislators really want to sanction collection companies aggressively going after consumers who are crash victims?" asked association spokesman John Eager.
While the fees usually are billed to an accident victim’s insurance company, some companies refuse to pay, so the bill gets passed along to the person involved in the traffic mishap. Mr. Yewcic cited instances in his district where motorists were asked to pay up to $1,500 for police and fire response.
The state Association of Township Supervisors and the state Boroughs Association, two organizations representing municipal governments, say a statewide ban on the fees isn’t needed.
Boroughs association official Chris Cap told lawmakers the decision whether to charge fees should be a matter of "local control." That is, let each municipality decide whether the fees are necessary.
Elam Herr, assistant executive director of the township group, said it supports billing insurers for some response costs, but not motorists, reasoning that accident victims have "already been through a traumatic situation."
Mr. Herr suggested lawmakers could alleviate the costs of accident response by reducing expenses associated with public safety, such as cutting pensions or other benefits, or finding new funding sources for police and fire, such as a dedicated tax or a low-interest loan fund.
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