An increase of up to 500%. That is what has been able to add in the Congress of Deputies with their proposal of law to implement the concept of progressivity to traffic sanctions. A measure that already applies in other countries and aims to match the balance.
This is what we know.
A Law Proposition. First of all, it is important to know What is a law proposition. This formula allows any parliamentary group to present a letter in which the modification of a law or the creation of an existing one is.
Once presented, the government has 30 days to answer whether or not it is processed. If processed, the deadline for presenting possible amendments to the text is opened. In case of moving forward is when the final approval of the text is discussed in the Congress of Deputies. Here is the time to approve this proposition, which decays or that different modifications are included.
The proposal to add. Therefore, the proposal to add is, for the moment, in the first step before traffic violations are forward. However, it is still important because it opens the debate to the approval of progressive fines in our country.
As you can read in the text presented at the Congress of Deputies, the idea is that the one who has the most pay in case of committing an infraction. “It cannot be that for some a fine ruins the month and for others it is a calderilla,” said Enrique Santiago, spokesman to add, in words collected by The country.
What is it? As we say, in which he pays more who has the most. But, to what extent. That is what would have to be defined and add its proposal:
- A 30% increase in the cost of the sanction “in response to the severity and transcendence of the fact, the background of the offender and his status as a repeat offender, the potential danger created for himself and for the other users of the road and the criterion of proportionality”
- A 150% increase for sanctioned offenders whose annual gross income is between 70,000 and 85,000 euros.
- A 300 % increase between sanctioned offenders whose annual gross income between 85,000 and 100,000 euros.
- A 500 % increase for sanctioned offenders whose annual gross income greater than 100,000 euros.
In addition to increases in the payment of sanctions, the proposal also includes reductions for serious and very serious infractions:
- 30% reduction for those who prove income up to 1.5 times the SMI
- 15% reduction for those who prove income between 1.5 and 2.5 times the SMI
What do we pay? At the moment, the DGT contemplates three scenarios to punish the infractions According to the Traffic Law:
- Mild infractions: up to 100 euros of sanction.
- Serious infractions: sanction of 200 euros.
- Very serious infractions: sanction of 500 euros as a general rule. Reiteration in alcohol or drug use is punished with 1,000 euros. Driving a car with detectors or radar inhibitors is punished with 3,000 euros.
Current punishments for speeding
How much would we pay? If we apply the proposal to add to the current sanctions, it must be taken into account that all speeding is a serious offense, although a penalty of 100 euros is contemplated for the milder cases. That is, to exceed the maximum permitted speed would entail the payment of the following fines:
- People who enter less than 1.5 times the SMI: 70 euros.
- People entering between 1.5 and 2.5 times the SMI: 85 euros.
- People who exceed 2.5 times the SMI and up to 70,000 euros: they could pay up to 130 euros “in response to the severity and transcendence of the fact, the background of the offender and their status as a repeat offender, the potential danger created for himself and for the other users of the road and the criteria of proportionality.”
- People who enter between 70,000 and 85,000 euros: 250 euros.
- People entering between 85,000 and 100,000 euros: 400 euros.
- People who enter more than 100,000 euros: 600 euros.
In response to more serious speed, which is punished with 600 euros, we could talk about sanctions of up to 3,600 euros at the upper end. For fines for drug use, it would amount to 6,000 euros. And for the use of inhibitors and radar detectors they would be 18,000 euros.
Does this apply in any country? Yes, different European Union countries have this way of acting in traffic but not all apply in the same way. The most obvious and known case is that of Finland, pioneers who apply this method since 1929 according to Pyramid Consultingspecialized in resorting traffic sanctions.
Finland is also famous because in the early 2000s, a Nokia manager was sanctioned with a Fine of 116,000 euros for exceeding the maximum limit allowed at 25 km/h. It is not the only Finnish case, Anders Wiklöf, Finnish millionaire owner of Wiklöf Holding (A group of more than 20 companies that invest in all types of sectors), complained that only three fines 300,000 euros had cost him.
And Finland is not the only country where this criterion is applied. In Sweden and in Switzerland he also pays the most and in Denmark, reductions of up to 50% are contemplated when paying fines so not everything is bad news, they collect in Cubic centimeters.
And does it work? There are doubts that increasing what is paid for traffic infractions has a real effect on traffic accidents. Some studies They claim that applying progressive fines can reduce road deaths by 5% and 2% serious injuries.
However, a meta -analysis It did correlate an increase in the payment of the sanctions between 50 and 100% of the cost of them with a 15% reduction in infractions. Despite this, it was not confirmed that there was a clear correlation between this reduction and a decrease in the number of accidents, dead on the road or injured.
Photo | Jorge Fraganillo