Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that put an end to the Texas Driver Responsibility Program, clearing the path for more than 1 million Texans who lost their licenses under the initiative to get back them back. (Source: KGBT Photo)

Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that put an end to the Texas Driver Responsibility Program, clearing the path for more than 1 million Texans who lost their licenses under the initiative to get back them back.

The program not only fined drivers for traffic violations, but forced them to pay a yearly fee as well, a policy activist groups like the ACLU of Texas said put a strain on low income Texans for years.

“It would put them into a deeper hole,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, of the ACLU of Texas.

It could be as simple as forgetting your license or having an expired registration card.

“The Driver’s Responsibility Program was issued and set up with surcharges I believe depending on certain violations,” said Victor Benavides, who is an instructor at Benavides Driving School in Brownsville.

Under the program, drivers paid the standard fine for a traffic violation, but the state imposed additional surcharges for the next three years as well – asking Texans to pay anywhere up to $2,000 depending on the ticket.

“If they don’t have insurance on their vehicle, they get cited a ticket and then they’re entered in the Driver’s Responsibility Program,” Benavides said.

It’s an issue that the ACLU of Texas says made it that much harder for vulnerable people who couldn’t necessarily afford to pay those mounting fines.

“Many times because they were not able to get their drivers license it would remove them from the workforce, leaving them without any money to pay additional fees. It ended up putting a lot of Texans in a very difficult situation,” Hinojosa said.

The program is expected to end September 1 after it started back in 2003, and Hinojosa said more than 600,000 people will immediately be eligible to get their license back.

“I believe it’s going to put us on the right path to allowing Texans to get back to work and do the things necessary to support their families,” he said.

Another 300,000 people will also be able to get their licenses back after paying a reinstatement fee.



