Pay a speeding ticket based on your income?

If this thread is truly about creating a viable deterrent, which I seriously doubt it is, because I really don't think you people are this passionate about traffic safety, then the punishment needs to involve time, not money. Because time is money, but, unlike money, time is truly finite. I can earn more money. I can't get lost time back. As I stated earlier, we are not wealthy, but we do earn a comfortable income that is definitely above the median family income. I would much rather pay $500 for a speeding ticket than do ten hours of community service. I wouldn't like to pay the $500, and I would feel it in the wallet, but I would choose to pay it every single time if given the choice between that and losing ten hours of my time.

Community service, the giving up of one's time, is a way to apply the same punishment to everyone but that affects the so-called "rich" in a way that hurts them more than lower-income people, which seems to be what the majority of the posters in this thread want. Ever notice how, for the most part, the more well-off a person is, the busier they are? They don't just hand me a nice paycheck at the end of every week. I have to bust my *kitten* for it. I'm not saying people who earn less do not work hard, but in my case, as my paycheck has gotten bigger, my hours have gotten longer. I don't call it quitting time after eight hours, I usually call it lunch break. Time is the most valuable commodity to me, and to the truly rich, of whom I know a few, it is definitely their most precious resource.

You can say your argument isn't about money until you are blue in the face. You are wrong. You are not nearly as concerned about safety as you are about making sure people who have worked hard to earn more than you have more taken away than you do for the exact same infraction. You can say "you will not be affected if you don't speed," and I agree with that. But your life will not change one bit no matter how high they raise the price for a speeding ticket. If I have to pay $500 or $1,000 for a ticket, you are still going to be in the same situation you find yourself in now. Just because they take it from me doesn't mean they are going to give it to you. I have had one speeding ticket in my life, when I was 21 years old and making a fraction of what I make today. I have never met one person who has decided they are not going to speed because they can't afford the ticket. People either speed or they don't.

For the record, I asked my brother, who is a fire department lieutenant, and who responds to hundreds of accident scenes each year, if he sees more accidents involving affluent, middle class, or lower-income people. He said, at least in his experience, lower-income people are involved in the majority of the accidents he has responded to over the years. So to assert that affluent people are burning up the roads causing the majority of traffic accidents is absurd.

And, please, spare me the economics lessons. If you can't afford to pay your speeding tickets, then economics is apparently not your strong suit. I wouldn't take marital counseling from someone who had been divorced three times, and I'm not going to take economics 101 from you.

Well first - I would hardly call discussing something in an internet forum 'passionate'. For me, the argument definitely is about viable deterrents.

I think you are blowing the discussion a little out of proportion to be honest. Surely you can agree that the punishment should fit the crime. Therefore a fixed penalty fine is not a viable deterrent as this is clearly imbalanced by how much money the person can afford to spend. As you say - you would choose $500 over 10 hours every time, so clearly a (in the uk) £60 fine which is roughly $90-$100 isn't really going to be noticeable to you. Therefore there is no real deterrent.

You mention community service, which is what I suggested some pages back, and I totally agree with this. That is one way to level the playing field.

Oh, and those of us who aren't that well off aren't necessarily in that position because we are poor with money. In my case - the fact that I am still solvent is testament to the fact that I am pretty damn good with money.

Some of us perhaps just had a bit of bad luck at a bad time and are just about holding on. So don't try to judge me on how much money I have. You know **** all about me.

Here, in Ontario, if you are doing 50 over the limit, you're going to kick the rest of your days driving goodbye!

Penalties for street racing, stunt driving and driving 50 km/h or over the speed limit

Pre-conviction – Immediate 7-day licence suspension and 7-day vehicle impoundment

Upon conviction - $2,000 to $10,000 fine, 6 demerit points, up to 6 months jail, up to 2 years licence suspension for a first conviction

Second offence – Driver licence suspension up to 10 years within 10 years of first conviction

I like this law! It doesn't matter how much you make, you're going to get F-ED!

As a non-american I always find it so interesting to read these kinds of threads. I would say that here in Australia we are somewhere in between the socialist models of Denmark/Norway and the extreme capitalism of the US. In my opinion capitalism has been proven to be as faulty an idealogy as socialism, so I wonder why people cling so tightly to the idea that it isn't.

The notion that we live in some kind of utopian level playing ground right now is absurd. Do you really think that everyone who has more, deserves more and those who struggle equally deserve their lot in life? The current capitalist model has gotten so out of control that we have basically reverted to the times of kings and peasants.. the only difference being that the peasants have been brainwashed into thinking that if they just play along, one day they too can be a king...

You also assume the America is "extreme-capitalism" as you put it. This cannot be farther from the truth. Government go so involved, created so many loopholes, deemed corporations as people, give taxbreaks to their friends corporations, created the Federal Reserve ect, that we are not a capitalist economy. We practice corporatism in this country, thanks to big government. We haven't been a true Free Market society in a long long time and our country is rapidly spiraling out of control because of it.

Couldn't agree more! Too many politicians with a short-sighted approach to running this country. Let's give everyone stuff for free (healthcare, etc). Wait, who will pay for it? Oh, lets just take money from the wealthier ones to pay for it. Why should they care, they have enough money anyways. That cripples the long-term desire for success. They just don't get it!

As a non-american I always find it so interesting to read these kinds of threads. I would say that here in Australia we are somewhere in between the socialist models of Denmark/Norway and the extreme capitalism of the US. In my opinion capitalism has been proven to be as faulty an idealogy as socialism, so I wonder why people cling so tightly to the idea that it isn't.

The notion that we live in some kind of utopian level playing ground right now is absurd. Do you really think that everyone who has more, deserves more and those who struggle equally deserve their lot in life? The current capitalist model has gotten so out of control that we have basically reverted to the times of kings and peasants.. the only difference being that the peasants have been brainwashed into thinking that if they just play along, one day they too can be a king...

I'm wondering whether our friend hopped a flight to Scandinavia for more research.....

Nah, I just actually work for living and am not the "wealth envy" person you think me out to be. With income close to a quarter million a year between my wife and I, I don't think I qualify.
Anyway, after researching more, speeding has been reduced as well as accidents because of fines inconjunction with technology . Due to more "speed cameras" that have been monitoring and helping to deter people from speeding, more are to be installed throughout. To be fair (since it's right to be) the studies were done in areas where income was moderate to high. I couldn't find a study on lower income statistics. If anyone can, please post it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition