A $290,000 Speeding Ticket? Be Thankful You Don’t Live in Switzerland.

Written by Gregory Monte.

The announcement of this expensive speeding ticket was big news back in 2010, but I don’t ever remember hearing about it.  I guess it was back before the time I cared all that much about traffic issues.  How times have changed.

What is going on here?

“In 2002 Swiss voters approved replacing prison terms for some offenses, including speeding, with fines based on your income.”

That’s right, the more you make, the more you pay.

And this practice is not just confined to Switzerland.  There are other European countries that also take this approach:

“Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, France, and Switzerland also have some sliding-scale fines, or “day-fines,” in place, but in America, flat-rate fines are the norm.”

This blog doesn’t generally take sides when it comes to politics (although I do personally lean Libertarian), but I can’t help but wonder if maybe Democratic Candidate Elizabeth Warren drew inspiration from “across the pond” when she developed her wealth tax idea.

Flat-rate traffic tickets in the United States … I hate to admit it, but this is actually something to be thankful for on Turkey Day next week.

Who would have thought?

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