harleyfrog

Ouch, somebody's gotta feel this.

wahoonc

Works for me...now can we make it so we can file civil lawsuits against the clowns that cause wrecks that shut the interstates down for hours at a time...Call it loss of commerce or something. Probably wouldn't work though...

Aaron

gwd

The photo in the story is in DC but the story is about some place in Georgia.
Traffic fines should have a variable component based on your gross income.
$35 + .1 * Income, something like that.

adgrant

What happed to equality in the eyes of the law? I doubt your idea would be constitutional, it certainly wouldn't become law in any state (the rich own the politicians).

Perhaps you should consider moving to Finland where they have such laws.

Pedaleur

Um...in theory or in practise?

Sigh...

crtreedude 

Define equality. If I were to receive a 100 dollar fine, I wouldn't even notice it. But, a person flipping burgers would definitely feel the bite. So, for me - there is no punishment. This is equality?

You can measure equality in more than just the size of the fine.

This precedence as already been established. My tax right here in Costa Rica is higher than most if not all of my neighbors. The USA does this as well. Is this equality in the eyes of the law? Yes, due to the ability of a richer person to pay more.

gwd

Well our income tax is like that. Yes, I've also heard good things about life in Finland. I'd suffer in the long dark winters. You are right, such a scheme would be more equal. Some of my affluent car owning neighbors consider speeding and parking tickets to be just part of the cost of owning a car. The fines aren't high enough to prevent them from parking in the emergency vehicle lanes, and being rich their moral compass is apparently so skewed they see nothing wrong with preventing fire and rescue vehicles from saving people in an apartment building. Their parking convenience is more important than their neighbor's lives.

adgrant

A fine is not a tax, it is a punishment.

adgrant

There is a simple solution to that problem, tow the vehicle. There are people in Manhattan who have a similar attitude to parking fines. I am sure they wouldn't want their expensive cars towed though.

harleyfrog

My complaint is that speeders only have to pay an additional $12 for being chased down. I think it should be based on the number of minutes with the fines doubled if it's considered a high-speed chase.

adgrant

I think anyone who leads the police in a high speed chase should have their car confiscated, their driver's license revoked and spend some time in the big house.

Cyclist0383

Finland actually fines based on income.

supcom

I think you will find that using a motor vehicle to evade the police is a felony in most, if not all, US states. So, all three of the above punishments would be possible outcomes.

Aquajag

Kind of off-topic, but how about some discipline for the police officers that are speeding without lights/sirens on. Was waiting at a stoplight that has speed radar for a 40mps zone, but displays up to 50mph before showing slow down. The police car coming down the hill last night didn't even get slow down, it was a red line with red and blue lights flashing at the top of it. I'm estimating here, but he was probably doing around 60mph.

Let's put that driver in the class of paying fuel surcharges for speeding. He's not the only one I've seen. Not looking to change everything here, I just hate double standards. Lead by example, though if they're going somewhere with job-related priority, turn the lights/sirens on.

gwd

Cops are above the law. A car free girlfriend likes to tell the story about a cop she met at a bar. He offered her a ride home and to impress her he used his lights and sirens at red lights. She wasn't impressed.

Cyclaholic

This statement clearly supports the Finland system, and what crtreedude is saying. How is a $100 fine a punishment to a millionaire, like it is to someone barely making ends meet on $5/hr?

adgrant

The real cost of a speeding ticket for an affluent offender is the increased insurance rates for their expensive car, the lawyers fees spent in trying to get off and the eventual loss of license for a repeat offender.

EliteTempleton

Sadly, typically, what you see is likely the poor attitude that they are above the law, rather then the public servants they are supposed to be.

However, some of those job-related priorities require some tactical awareness in the arrival. A robbery in progress, for instance, showing up with lights flashing and sirens blaring tends to generate unwanted results, like the criminals fleeing the scene...