Whoa.
Wait, really?
After seeing this, I got my dad to calm down and slow from 130 to 110, where tickets are rarely given.
I thought that $895 was a little steep for a speeding ticket but soon changed my mind and wondered if it was steep enough. $895 is breaking the bank for people riding in their rusted out cars who are barely scraping by with the heavy increases in gas prices. $895 is huge for people who can't afford to drive. $895 is huge for everyone who doesn't drive 160.
The target, then, for the $895 speeding ticket is for the people who can a) afford the cars that go 160 km/h, and therefore, b) afford the big ticket.
It's stupid of me to assume that everyone in a BMW has thousands of dollars to throw away, but it shouldn't be that hard to come up with the cash. A cancelled newspaper subscription, the 'basic' satellite TV package, non-name brand food, a cheaper bottle of wine each night, all will contribute to $895 in savings over six months. In this case, the big ticket is a deterrent against going 160 but not enough to stop it.
Let's say the province raised the ticket to $20,000. I don't know many people who have a disposable $20,000. When the ticket price goes up and sits on a level with the price of private school tuition for a year, a new car, food for a year, people will not drive 160.
It boils down to necessity and ability: the rust bucket drivers can barely scrape enough cash together to buy gas at $1.50 a litre and therefore do not drive at speeds that would tax them nearly $900.
Unlike the less fortunate drivers, the execs in their BMW's, can manage with a $900 hit. If anyone wants to stop people driving at 160 km/h, make it unmanageable for everyone.
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