Tickets Buy New Police Cars

Starting next year in Illinois, if you get a ticket and want to keep it off your driving record, you can pay an additional $25. The money will go toward buying more police cars.

Is there something distasteful about a police department having an incentive to write tickets? Does it make public-safety sense to buy your way out of losing points on your license?

The Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Ill., did a nice job of breaking down where court costs are supposed to go on a typical ticket. This is a useful idea, wherever you are.