Swiss Millionaire Hit By Record Speed Fine 52
tugfoigel writes "A Swiss court has slapped a local millionaire with a record speeding fine of $290,000.The man was reportedly caught driving a red Ferrari Testarossa at 137km/h (85mph) through a village.The penalty was calculated based on the unnamed motorist's wealth — assessed by the court as $22.7m — and on his status as a repeat offender."
Re:fine, be that way. (Score:3, Insightful)
I absolutely agree. And the same should apply to civil judgments and cases of corporate lawbreaking.
To fine a company $10k per day for pouring poison into a river, when it would cost the company $25k per day to dispose of it legally does not make sense.
I live in an expensive part of Chicago, but I bought my place before the prices went crazy. I'm by far the poorest person on the block and I make a decent living. I have seen my neighbors consider a $50 parking ticket less than a minor annoyance and completely disregard No Parking signs. A neighbor of mine told me that she just considers getting parking tickets to be part of "the cost of doing business" although I'm not sure what business she's talking about since her husband's the breadwinner and she gets most of her parking tickets shopping downtown or on Michigan Avenue. If I were to get a $50 parking ticket, I'd feel really bad, seeing it as a nice dinner out for my wife and I that we won't be able to have. In fact, I'm likely to get a frying pan across the noggin if my wife found out I got a parking ticket and it wasn't a matter of life or death.
Yes, I believe all fines should be based on income.