Faulty Finnish Fines

Traffic safety is no small thing, and everything that can be done to enhance it should be done. Speeding  is the major cause of accidents, so fines for it should be stiff, in order to deter drivers from it. The Finns have a very strict view on this, coupled with a system of fines in which the amount not only reflects how serious the speeding is, but also the driver's capacity to pay it. In other words, the rich pay more for the same traffic violation. Much more. Many thousands of dollars more.

So much so, there is a real issue of fairness in such a scheme. People should be punished based on what they do and the consequences of what they do. Punishing them on the basis of their wealth is just wrong, and does not speak well of an enlightened society in so many other ways.

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