A woman in Switzerland recently received a traffic fine of 175.000 euros. There, the amount of the fine is determined based on income. “We believe that something needs to change at the core regarding fines, including traffic fines,” says Michiel van Nispen, Member of Parliament for the SP. “Currently, there are standard fines for everyone, and that is not fair.”
Van Nispen fears that someone with a high income won't care much about a fine of a few hundred euros. "If an incredibly wealthy person drives 20 kilometers per hour over the speed limit and gets a 200-euro fine, it barely affects them. What's stopping them from doing that anymore?"
The Socialist Party (SP) aims to prevent repeat offenses. "The principle of fines is that they help prevent someone from doing it again. You can't solve that by imposing the same fines for everyone, without any tailored approach. That's why the SP advocates for fair fines that take income into account."
What is peanuts for a millionaire is a huge amount for someone with a flexible job.
A better solution
Traffic expert Ruud Hornman believes that income-based fines aren't a good idea. "Income-based traffic fines would actually be quite unusual. It would be like people with higher incomes paying more at a supermarket than people with lower incomes," he says.
Hornman does have a better solution than income-based traffic fines. "If you want to catch traffic offenders where it hurts most: in their wallets, make traffic fines more expensive for repeat offenses," he says. "Design a system where repeat offenders pay a higher fine. That reduces the likelihood of recidivism."