Speeding Fines

[andrewducker]

octopoid_horror let me know about the Finnish system of administering speeding fines:
KPH over the speed limit x daily salary.

So if you're 10KPH over the speed limit and earn hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, then you're in for quite a large fine.

Apparently this is how all reasonable sized fines work in Finland - they're expressed in days of pay.

I'm in favour.

Comments

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

Why are speedometers so inaccurate? Is it a cost thing, that an accurate device is prohibitively expensive, or is there some giant conspiracy of silence on this issue, because neither the car or speed camera manufacturers or the government or whoever wants to admit this?

[sigmonster.livejournal.com]

Speedometers actually measure rotation speed of the shaft going into the gearbox, and multiply out by the current gear ratio and assumed wheel diameter to give the speed.

There's a lower bound on accuracy due to variation in tire diameter (tread wear, changes in tire pressure, and different makes of tire) - I can easily imagine 1% variation in diameter, which turns into a bit more than 2% variation in circumference. There's also going to be varation in exact gear ratios over time.

I suppose you could stick a laser dopplermeter on the bottom of the chassis, which would get an accurate speed whenever the laser isn't covered in muck. Plus you could use your car as a mouse for a really, really big monitor.