Thread: Increasing fines in the name of safety

Not sure about fines for motoring offences however there are plenty if studies to show increasing the length of the potential jail sentence does nothing to deter crime yet this is still very popular with the press and politicians. Would not be a big leap to say the same about motoring fines.

Chances of being caught is what is the deterrent hence speed cameras which are highly visible are proven more effective at reducing speed than those hidden from the motorist.

Mobile phones are a menace. Not just in the car but in general. Yes I do own one but only under protest these days.

I liked the idea of 10yrs without infringements = 1yr free rego. Lets see some positive reinforcement here Government bodies!!!

They talk of increasing fines to make everyone safer, but who does it make safer? You and I maybe, the people who do the right things anyway? Those people who are going to speed, drink and drive, use a phone, etc are not going to care, they will continue their learned behaviours. Yes learned behaviours; they have learned that they can get away with these things time and time again. Sometimes they get a fine, most times they wont. IF they get a fine, do they even pay it????? do you know someone who has just neglected to actually pay the fine they have received? I bet they don't get chased up. I heard a number on the news the other day our council had given something like $400000 worth of parking tickets. How many of those get paid??? maybe half? People like you and I who are already doing the right thing would pay, because they accidentally parked in the wrong spot, or got held up and went over time.

Another example for you; I had a friend who lost his licence, then continued to drive. He didn't care that he'd lost it. Therefore it wasn't really punishment was it.

My point is, it doesn't matter what the fines are, if the debt isn't paid then there is no point; your only going to hurt the honest people who do the right thing and just get caught out that one time.

Whilst walking my dogs I stopped to watch two coppers doing .05 tests. Along came a young, pretty girl chatting on her mobile. I thought uh oh - she's gone. When stopping she put her phone down, blew in the bag and when she drove off immediately picked up her phone to continue her interrupted conversation.

If speed kills why car manufacturers compete with each other to who come with the faster car in 0 to 100 ?
If speed kills and also it is illegal, why the above it is allowed?
It would no be much better to improve safety, reliability, and economy in the vehicles instead of speed?
Make you wonder why people need a high performance car when soon or later they will break the laws.

Minimise passive enforcement and maximise active enforcement.

The biggest response from most drivers to a flash from the side of the road is "Sucked in, wasn't me", OR "Ah crap, oh well whatever" and a shrug of the shoulders a few MONTHS later when they get the letter.
You also get the ludicrous situations like I have near me: 2 camera sites, 1 mobile, 1 fixed.
At the mobile sites, traffic backs up every morning as drivers shave off 10kph 'Just in case' whether the site is active or not, traffic concertinas and clogs every day due to this. At the fixed site, traffic drops 10kph 300m before and adds 20kph 200m after! What a deterrant! Safely moving traffic becomes chaotic and the impatient do silly things to avoid the congestion.

Flashing Red and Blues and the sight of a REAL person, Really getting the in-your-face talking-to has a much greater effect on all those who see it.
Having to stop and go through the process and be embarrased or ashamed is a much greater hassle for people than the (cheaper) letter option.
Add the community service option in mid-level cases and you are away.
For the Idiots: +20 over the limit, 3+ DUI, Racing, Reckless endangerment, evade arrest- Hit them HARD. In Qld, Police have the option of sending them to a magistrate BUT the magistrate needs to back the decision up with a truer penalty.
Seizure of vehicle, loss of licence for Qty of years, Forced to sit in with the Victims of road trauma/ ride along with an ambulance or RCR.
There will be those (as there is today) that still drive when disqualified/ unlicenced, so give them some thinking time in a nice quiet place for a few months while undertaking re-education. Maybe even as a clean up crew after MVAs?

Originally Posted by Ferret

Probably not as such, but there are studies which show if you slow people down then road trauma and deaths are decreased.

The question then becomes - how do you slow people down? Fines are one means I suppose. If you think they are ineffective in doing that - what are the alternatives?

ABS figures show when blanket 50klm/h speed limits were introduced in urban areas pedestrian road toll rose by 12%, due in the main to people watching their speedos instead of the road.
Contrary to what our money grabbing politicians and their Police force say, SPEED IS NOT the biggest killer on our roads, INNATTENTION IS.
So other than filling the coffers of our corrupt governments what is raising the level of fines going to do, Regards Frank.

I'm going to play devils advocate here, but why is it so important that we all follow the rules - especially if the outcome 99.99% of the time is that nobody gets hurt?

What is our goal? Is it really to stop people from getting hurt, or do we just like the leverage of being able to point offenders out from our righteous positions? Is the goal so we all live such safe existences that we all survive to the ripe age of 100... only to spend our last 30 years in a nursing home and senile because we never pushed ourselves? Or are we as a society so scared of death that we're trying to outlaw it's occurrence? What is our goal?


If everybody were to follow the current rules 100% of the time, under our current model that means the rulebook would need to be tightened even harder - just so a surplus of income can be created in the form of fining. Then we comply with that set of rules 100% and the rule book will need to be tightened again... and so it would go ad infinum. Nanny state here we come.


And I certainly don't agree with proactive enforcement. The law should exist to serve your freedoms passively, not chase after you in efforts to extort your money.

Originally Posted by Tank

ABS figures show when blanket 50klm/h speed limits were introduced in urban areas pedestrian road toll rose by 12%, due in the main to people watching their speedos instead of the road.
Contrary to what our money grabbing politicians and their Police force say, SPEED IS NOT the biggest killer on our roads, INNATTENTION IS.
So other than filling the coffers of our corrupt governments what is raising the level of fines going to do, Regards Frank.

Absolutely agree. The problem with most speedos is that they are set up at 20kmph increments and can be difficult to read at 50. 110 is not so bad as is generally at the top of your speedo in your direct field of vision, below 80 is generally below your normal field of vision and you have to keep looking especially with the odd numbers 50/70 and causes distraction.