A B.C. councillor is proposing a new way for cities to assess traffic fines.
Saanich councillor Teale Phelps Bondaroff is proposing that fines should be based on how much money a person makes rather than just a flat rate.
“So if you fail to yield for a pedestrian, you get a $121 ticket,” Bondaroff told Focus BC Friday. “Failing to yield to a bus is a $368 ticket. There’s two problems with these fines. The first is that they disproportionately punish people with lower incomes. And the second aspect is they fail to adequately serve as a deterrent to the extra wealthy.”
He said a similar system has already been adopted in countries such as Finland, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Austria, France and Switzerland.
Kyla Lee, a Vancouver criminal lawyer with Acumen Law, said this is not the first time an idea like this one has been floated.
“I’m not aware of it being used anywhere in Canada. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s not used anywhere in Canada,” she said. “But it could work. It would require additional information. The government would have to have tax-related records in order to base the income decisions, and there would have to be regulations put in place to determine what the fine amount would be based on your income, based on your tax returns.”
Lee said that information is already used by the courts in order to determine child support or family support, for example.