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I'm from Finland, and I think the fine system here works well. There are some crucial differences from the US system however. First, fines don't go to the local police departments, and local municipalities don't get any financial incentive from issuing more fines. Everything goes to the state, and amount of collected fines is not related to the budgets of the police departments. This means that there are no interests for collecting more fines from any specific demographic. Second, there are actually two levels of fines. For minor offences (like minor speeding, jaywalking, running a traffic light slightly late) you only get fixed fine. If the offence is serious enough to go to the court, then you may get day fines that are based on the income. Also, the most extreme fines reported from Finland usually result from cases where someone has cashed nicely from selling a company or something, and because the initial amount of the fine is just based on tax information of the previous year, this may be a very high amount. In reality these fines always become lower in the court. The fines should be based on the current income by the law, and if the defendant can prove that the previous year was just an anomaly and the current income is actually lower, the amount of the fine will be reduced. I know some wealthy people with very nice cars. They are extra careful to never speed beyond the "safe limit" because it would hurt too much if they got a fine, and instead take their cars to closed race tracks if they want to drive fast. Most people who I see speeding on the roads drive some lower-end cars like BMWs or Audis. I take their speeding as a sign that they probably have barely enough income to afford a car like that and want to show off, because if their income was actually high, they'd be more wary of the financial consequences. |