Impact of Heavy Fines on Traffic Violations
Have you ever witnessed a road accident caused by careless driving? Road safety has become a significant concern for people due to the rise of accidents and fatality caused by those accidents increasing every day. Some countries have resulted in imposing heavy fines for any traffic violation to curb road accidents. The growing number of road accidents is becoming an issue of major concern in the world today. Everyday road safety and fatality caused by accidents are becoming a worrying phenomenon globally. To reduce these cases, people have varying opinions on how they will make the roads safer. Some people propose that traffic rules should be revised and more strict rules should be put into place. Therefore, heavy fines should be imposed on traffic violators to help curb road accidents, to halt drivers from careless violations, and to bring discipline on roads.
Firstly, when the government imposes heavy fines on violators of traffic rules, accidents will be reduced in the roads (Balasubramanian & Sivasankaran, 2019). Many drivers will be terrified due to the heavy fine, and they will be forced to follow the rules. This, in turn, will help in reducing the number of road accidents since drivers will be more careful while driving. Many people abide by rules when they are aware that a violation will result in severe consequences. Thus, heavy fines on traffic violations will make people more cautious since they are afraid of the consequences. As a result, road accidents will be reduced due to strict penalties.
Furthermore, Saha (2020) observed that heavy penalties imposed on traffic rules violation would make drivers, pedestrians, and motorists halt from careless road use and rules violation. Since money is known to be one of the easiest adjusters of attitude, people are likely to adhere to the rules to avoid losing an item as valuable as money. When stern punishment is involved, there is a great chance that people will carefully follow the rules. Thus, imposing heavy fines on violators of traffic rules will ensure that road users become more careful since they are afraid of the high amount of money they will pay as fine.
Nonetheless, imposing heavy fines on traffic rules violations will help in installing discipline to road users. According to Balasubramanian & Sivasankaran (2019). exceeding speed limits, drunk driving, using mobile phones while driving, driving on the wrong side, and careless overtaking are some of the major causes of road accidents. All these are indiscipline cases on the roads that lead to unnecessary loss of lives. Thus, imposing heavy fines will ensure that people are more disciplined on roads since they are afraid of losing huge amounts of money.
However, critics argue that imposing heavy fines will cause a backlash in public (Halder & Shetty, 2018). When people get scared due to huge fines, they start migrating from that region. For instance, in Singapore, many people relocated due to huge fines imposed on traffic rules violations (Halder & Shetty, 2018). Critics argue that other ways, such as campaigns using media and educating the public on road safety, can be used to reduce road accidents. In refutation to the critics’ claims, heavy fines imposed on traffic violations helps to make people more cautious on roads.
In conclusion, it is evident that imposing heavy fines on roads helps in reducing road accidents, installing discipline on roads, and making drivers halt traffic rules violations. Since people are afraid of wasting their money on fines, they will be more careful while driving. Therefore, governments should impose heavy fines on traffic rules violations to help in maintaining road safety.
References
Balasubramanian, V., & Sivasankaran, S. K. (2019). Analysis of factors associated with exceeding lawful speed traffic violations in Indian metropolitan city. Journal of Transportation Safety & Security, 1-17.
Halder, D., & Shetty, A. (2018). Regulating road traffic violation by youth in India: A Therapeutic Jurisprudential approach. Available at SSRN 3230604.
Saha, S. (2020). Automated traffic law enforcement system: A feasibility study for the congested cities of developing countries. International Journal of Innovative Technology and Interdisciplinary Sciences, 3(1), 346-363.