It's traumatic enough being in an auto accident without having a town add to your misery by charging you to respond to your misfortune.

But there is a growing move by cities and towns to do just that, a move state Rep. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, tried to get outlawed last year with a bill that passed the House and Senate but was vetoed by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Here's how this gig works: Let's say you are involved in a car accident in Griffith, which has contracted with Ohio-based Cost Recovery System since 2005. Cost Recovery suggests police charge up to $262 to respond to a call, and $80 an hour to interview witnesses.

So they bill your insurance company, and if they won't pony up you're on the hook.

And surprise! Cost Recovery gets a 10 percent cut to collect the money and disburse it to the town.

Munster, Merrillville and Porter briefly considered the plan, but ultimately wisely rejected it, despite the temptation to raise money at the expense of vulnerable people in a tough economic environment. But Daniels' veto leaves it on the table for every city and town to do so.

House Bill 1274 would have prohibited cities, towns and other political subdivisions from "imposing or collecting an accident response fee on or from the driver of a motor vehicle involved in a motor vehicle accident."

Why did Daniels veto this in Indiana, which is a very insurance company-friendly state? Who knows? Some of the ordinances are set up to waive fees if a motorist's insurance will not pay the bill. In Griffith, only people from out of town are assessed the accident fee, so as not to upset the voters.

But such a patchwork of who can be assessed and who cannot, or whether a town has such an ordinance in the first place, assures inequity across the board.

The whole thing reeks of either sticking it to the rich insurance companies, which no one cares about until everyone's rates go up, or sticking it to people who are trying to economize by not getting the insurance with all the bells and whistles.

We are already paying police through property taxes to respond to accidents, write reports, interview witnesses. What rationale can there be for this surcharge, which stinks of legalized extortion? None, said Rogers and her fellow House and Senate members.

And let's face it, if Mitch gets into an accident with his gubernatorial limo in Griffith, we all know who will be paying for it anyway.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.