Final Word from Monday, June 18, 2007
One theory is that bad Czech drivers use their big cars as an instrument for releasing their passive-aggressive behavior. They're tough guys as long as their Land Rovers are between you and them. They're also the first to try to wheedle their way out of paying a fine. Unfortunately, Czech traffic fines - expensive and payable only in person - are designed for this obnoxious minority. As MFD documented, there's now such a backlog in summoning people to pay their fines that drivers could rack up enough points to lose their license before they even know they have any points. Typically, officials want to solve this by adding more bureaucrats. How about the simpler solution? Quit assuming everyone's a jerk who's going to try to avoid paying the fine. Set reasonable fines, mail them out, and let the responsible majority simply pay them and be done with it. Save the summonses for the jerks. [Czech Republic city hall town MF Dnes driving]