This is either an object lesson to not speed in Finnland, or else get into the sausage busness, take your pick:
One of Finland’s richest men has been handed a record 170,000 euros speeding ticket, thanks to the country’s policy of relating the fine to your income.
Jussi Salonoja, the 27-year-old heir to a family-owned sausage empire, was given the £116,000 ticket after being caught driving 80kph in a 40kph zone.
Helsinki police came up with the figure after tax office data showed that Mr Salonoja earned close to £7m in 2002.
Not that I think it’s necessarily a bad idea to key fines to income, mind you …
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“Not that I think it’s necessarily a bad idea to key fines to income, mind you …”
Well, I do. It means that “equal protection under the law” will be circumvented in favor of penalizing people for earning more money. Rich people don’t necessarily drive worse than poor people, you know.
Hmmm. I see what you mean about equal protection.
On the other hand, fines can be meant to recompense for loss to society, or to act as a deterrent/punishment. A $50 fine to me would be far more of a deterrent than a $0.50 fine, wheras when I wa sa kid with an allowance, a $0.50 would have been quite sa punishment. Were I Bill Gates, a $50 fine would mean nothing to me as punishment or deterrent; it would cost me more in time lost *not* to slow down.
So what constitutes equal punishment, particularly when the ability to take punishment is so unequal?
Having been a proponent of this idea for great many years, I would love to see this idea in the States. Since a one size fits all form of traffic fines is by its very definition inequitable, it would be a good thing to move to this form of penalty.
And since traffic fines have almost nothing to do with safety and are all about revenue generation, this would be a great way for the various government agencies to start gleaning the big bucks.
Well, then you need to ask whether our fining system should be progressive …
… er, maybe not.
On the other hand, while I agree that there’s a tendency sometimes to see traffic fines as revenue generators, I do think they often fulfill a safety purpose as well. They certainly keep me slowed down, sometimes.