Following on from last nights program which caught a few naughty boys, it seems to me that the level of fines in the UK are so totally random that they make little sense.
As a couple of examples, an lad with no insurance was fines £600, a guy driving a truck nearly 3 times over the drink limit fined £150 ish, can’t remember exactly, but around there.
Now in my mind, the drink driver was by far a bigger threat. Yes, I accept he has also lost 25-30K a year, but it was his choice and I’m sorry, I wouldn’t care less if the idiot has to live in a cave and eat grass for the rest of his life, they should have taken everything he had for it. (not quite sure how the coppers involved resisted the temptation to tear his throat out!) Did I mention I’m not a fan of drink driving?
OK, now £600 quid for not having insurance? Absolute bargain. Ask anyone on here how much it costs to get a young kid on the road and you will be stunned at the prices. A young lad in a standard Fiesta, no bling, £1800-£2200 a year, Half that for a girl (lucky me, mine was born with bits missing for insurance purposes ) So £600 is not a deterrent. You can afford to get done three times for the cost of one years insurance and forget the points. If you ain’t got a licence, what do points matter.
What I’m trying to work out is what should the standard levels of fines be? I don’t think that the system, where individual judges can set the figure is working as the outcome depends too much on personalities etc. Forget the bit where you take into account peoples available surplus income as that it also too easily manipulated by those with most of it. (Remember most bosses of ltd companies earn very little wages, they have huge directors dividends instead that for the calculation of courts, is not counted).
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hang 'en high guy, but also not a person that thinks running without insurance or half cut is acceptable. But before deterrents work, surely it has to be a realistic level that everyone fears. It’s no deterrent to threaten a multi-millionaire with a £50 fine, but should he pay more just because he’s worked hard and made more.
What offences would be charged at what rate by you?
Hardly 25-30k here was an MRS driver I should know I worked for them. Perhaps working for MRS was too much for him. One man can only take so much crap .
DoYouMeanMe?:
Following on from last nights program which caught a few naughty boys, it seems to me that the level of fines in the UK are so totally random that they make little sense.
As a couple of examples, an lad with no insurance was fines £600, a guy driving a truck nearly 3 times over the drink limit fined £150 ish, can’t remember exactly, but around there.
Now in my mind, the drink driver was by far a bigger threat. Yes, I accept he has also lost 25-30K a year, but it was his choice and I’m sorry, I wouldn’t care less if the idiot has to live in a cave and eat grass for the rest of his life, they should have taken everything he had for it. (not quite sure how the coppers involved resisted the temptation to tear his throat out!) Did I mention I’m not a fan of drink driving?
OK, now £600 quid for not having insurance? Absolute bargain. Ask anyone on here how much it costs to get a young kid on the road and you will be stunned at the prices. A young lad in a standard Fiesta, no bling, £1800-£2200 a year, Half that for a girl (lucky me, mine was born with bits missing for insurance purposes ) So £600 is not a deterrent. You can afford to get done three times for the cost of one years insurance and forget the points. If you ain’t got a licence, what do points matter.
Remember johnny Cash, A boy named Sue Insurance was expensive in Arkansas too
I just sat in the pub reading the local paper, especially the court files. Driving without insurance or not in accordance with a licence showed fines ranging from £125 to about £340 depending whether your name was Jalek, Abdul or Norman. The standard of driving in Derby is bloody awful and although the DVLA test centre is extremely busy, there are probably only about 7 people in the whole city qualified to drive legally
Wheel nut.
If you think Derby is bad, keep away from Burton and it’s taxi’s!
Andy187.
I don’t think any country has it more wrong than Switzerland. The dumb … ban racing in the country because they see it as very un-Green, so all the Swiss folk who wish to race now travel 2000kms to do it in Spain and even have a Swiss series there. If anyone can see how adding 2000 kms worth of fuel into the event is helping, they have beaten me!.
) So £600 is not a deterrent. You can afford to get done three times for the cost of one years insurance and forget the points. If you ain’t got a licence, what do points matter.
it is not punishment enough! 
