Finnish Drivers Don't Mind Sliding Scale,
But Instant Calculation Gets Low Marks
By STEVE STECKLOW
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Is this our friend on the buy range?
"Janne Rajala, a 26-year-old student"
HELSINKI, Finland -- Jaako Rytsola, a 27-year-old Finnish Internet entrepreneur and newspaper columnist, was cruising in his BMW one recent evening. "The road was wide and I was feeling good," he later wrote. "It's nice to be driving when there's no one in sight."
But this road wasn't empty; a radar-equipped police car was clocking his speed. The officer pulled over Mr. Rytsola's car and issued him a speeding ticket for driving 43 miles an hour in a 25-mile-an-hour zone.
The fine: $71,400.
'A Nordic Tradition'
The staggering sum was no mistake. In Finland, traffic fines generally are based on two factors: the severity of the offense and the driver's income. The concept has been embedded in Finnish law for decades: When it comes to crime, the wealthy should suffer as much as the poor. Indeed, sliding-scale financial penalties are also imposed for offenses ranging from shoplifting to securities-law violations. "This is a Nordic tradition," says Erkki Wuoma, special planning adviser at the Ministry of Interior. "We have progressive taxation and progressive punishments. So the more you earn, the more you pay."
But the arrival of a new, high-tech police tool for calculating traffic fines is making some well-to-do Finns progressively furious.
For years, the size of traffic fines was largely dependent on the honor system. Police officers asked violators for their current monthly gross income, then consulted a book of tables to calculate the fine. The police complained that drivers routinely lied -- it was "the national sport," says traffic officer Risto Maksimainen -- and the only recourse was to go to court. Motorists complained, too, arguing that the fines should be based on take-home pay, which given Finland's hefty income-tax rates, is considerably less than gross income.
And so, in October 1999, the Finnish government made some major changes, including basing fines on net income. But the biggest change was this: Using cellular phones, the police can now tap into official tax records, which in Finland are open to the public, and learn within seconds a driver's reported income and the corresponding traffic fine.
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Many Finns believe the system is fair. Patrolling the highways outside Helsinki in an unmarked Opel, Officer Maksimainen and his partner, Anssi Ukonaho, clock a red Volkswagen Golf driving 18 miles an hour over the speed limit. They stop the car, and the driver, Janne Rajala, a 26-year-old student, produces his driver's license. Officer Ukonaho whips out his Nokia phone and punches in some numbers, including Mr. Rajala's social-security number.
Within seconds, Mr. Rajala's 1999 tax records appear on the phone's tiny screen: his monthly gross income ($975) and his after-tax income ($724). The screen also flashes his fine: $82. Because this amount is below the minimum fine for driving this fast, the officers write a ticket for $106.
"I think it's okay," Mr. Rajala says, adding he would see nothing wrong with paying more if he earned more. "Why not? When you have so much money, it doesn't matter."
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Dr. Summala notes that what makes Finland's new fine system possible is the country's extensive computerized databases and advanced cellular-phone technology. Finland, after all, is home to Nokia Corp., the world's largest cellular-phone-handset maker, and seven out of every 10 Finns use cell phones. However, given the complexity of the new law, it's hard to imagine that anything short of a supercomputer could calculate a Finnish speeding ticket.
Using an overhead projector back at the Interior Ministry, Mr. Wuoma attempts to explain the math. He takes out a piece of paper covered with long equations, which seem more appropriate for a college class in nuclear physics.
The equations start with a motorist's net monthly income. The figure comes into play whenever a driver is caught going at least 12 miles an hour over the posted limit (below that, the fine is a fixed amount, ranging from $63 to $110).
To begin, the driver's monthly net income is reduced by 1,500 Finnish marks ($235) and that total is divided by 60. This figure is supposed to represent a person's daily disposable income. Then, for every dependent, such as a child or nonworking spouse, 15 marks is subtracted. But as many as 20 marks may be added depending on the value of the driver's other assets, including real estate.
The final figure, called a day fine, is then multiplied by a number ranging between one and 120, representing the severity of the violation as determined by the traffic officer. For example, a person driving 20 miles an hour over the limit on a highway in good weather might be assessed 12 day fines.
It all seems to make sense to the traffic officers looking on. "It's so simple," says Mr. Ukonaho. |
