RE: Traffic fine balance and Fox news idiocy
October 18, 2013 at 1:43 am
(This post was last modified: October 18, 2013 at 1:47 am by Darth.)
The exact number with the decimal point and commas seems to have gotten lost in translation here.
A quick google of Anders Wiklöf reveals it was about 80,000 pounds or $130,000
The fox news article, from 2010 (so you've dug it up rather than it being an article inspired by this finnish chap), is mostly about switzerland and talks of fines with a maximum penalty of 16 million (In germany). The headline (which as I understand it is often not written by the same people who write the articles), is not a fair representation of the article in my opinion. The article doesn't talk of wealth redistribution, in fact the first paragraph goes as follows:
So fox news, states that these fines, rather than being a result of Europe and Switzerland's marxist traditions, is a method of actually punishing rich lawbreakers. So far so good, no?
It then gives some examples and lists some countries with similar laws, before honing in on switzerland (who apparently had a problem with all the rich tourists who go buzzing round in rented ferrari's and such), giving lots of people who are in favour of this scheme quotes, before giving one group who have a proposed alternative (mandatory counselling/courses) a quote and then letting the Swiss people's party offer some criticism that the penalty for poorer people is now too low to deter speeders.
The article doesn't appear to offer any real criticism of the scheme to be honest, and again, it makes no mention of wealth redistribution. Quite frankly you walk away from the article more in favour of your position.
Yeah, that's pretty much what the article says (or at least, what the people who are given the most quotes are saying)
Knee-Jerkers are gunna Knee-Jerk. I suggest you work on your future prediction abilities.
A quick google of Anders Wiklöf reveals it was about 80,000 pounds or $130,000
The fox news article, from 2010 (so you've dug it up rather than it being an article inspired by this finnish chap), is mostly about switzerland and talks of fines with a maximum penalty of 16 million (In germany). The headline (which as I understand it is often not written by the same people who write the articles), is not a fair representation of the article in my opinion. The article doesn't talk of wealth redistribution, in fact the first paragraph goes as follows:
Quote:European countries are increasingly pegging speeding fines to income as a way to punish wealthy scofflaws who would otherwise ignore tickets.
So fox news, states that these fines, rather than being a result of Europe and Switzerland's marxist traditions, is a method of actually punishing rich lawbreakers. So far so good, no?
It then gives some examples and lists some countries with similar laws, before honing in on switzerland (who apparently had a problem with all the rich tourists who go buzzing round in rented ferrari's and such), giving lots of people who are in favour of this scheme quotes, before giving one group who have a proposed alternative (mandatory counselling/courses) a quote and then letting the Swiss people's party offer some criticism that the penalty for poorer people is now too low to deter speeders.
The article doesn't appear to offer any real criticism of the scheme to be honest, and again, it makes no mention of wealth redistribution. Quite frankly you walk away from the article more in favour of your position.
Quote: It is a practice that I really do aprove of, since at a certain point of income a fine for speeding isnt really a punishment. Thereby this law pritty much ensures that one cannot literaly buy oneself out of legal trouble.
Yeah, that's pretty much what the article says (or at least, what the people who are given the most quotes are saying)
Knee-Jerkers are gunna Knee-Jerk. I suggest you work on your future prediction abilities.
Nemo me impune lacessit.
