Following on from previous posts on increases in parking fine revenues for Brisbane City Council and the ongoing battles at Balmoral, we have come across a very interesting development in Europe. Everything-Green website TreeHugger has drawn to our attention to the concept of tying speeding fines (and parking fines!) to the offending driver’s income.
This initiative was introduced in Switzerland in 2002 (and is also used in Finland) and is based on the premise that an $80 speeding fine is unlikely to affect the behaviour of a multi-millionaire. One of Finland’s richest men was recently fined a record 170,000 for speeding (he was driving at 80kmph in a 40kmph zone)!
According to this system, the speeding and parking fines are calculated based on the driver’s income before deductions. Interestingly, TreeHugger’s survey found that 82% of respondents agreed that the fines should be proportional to income, stating that ‘the point of a fine is to deter and this would make it deter equally’.
What do you think? Could a scheme like this ever work in Australia? Post your opinion in the comment box below: