I can’t tell you what they are in the UK as I’ve only ever had one parking ticket and that was eventually cancelled.
I’ve never been ticketed for speeding or anything else, hell I’m so bloody clean I should be awarded a medal or summink.
But enough about me:p
What’s the fines in the US for:
Speeding…I imagine this depends on how much over the posted limit you go
Illegal parking… any sort, in a disabled spot, near a fire hydrant and so on
Driving without Insurance
Having no “tags”
Having no driving licence
All of this would be governed by state law or local ordinance (some speeding and illegal parking). There would be no uniform or simple answer for the US as a whole.
Fines vary by state. I can tell you that once I was ticketed for doing [del]120[/del] 85 in a 65 mph zone and [del]110[/del] 85 in a 55 mph zone (both wide-open freeways, sunny and dry) and it cost $300 each time.
Last time I was in California a carpool lane violation was $141 in addition to any other fines.
Illegal parking in L.A. was $18 (I’d parked there for two minutes!) and parking at an expired meter in Bellingham, Washington cost $3.
In California, Washington and Oregon fines are doubled in ‘construction zones’.
You arean’t required to have insurance in all states. I believe New Hamphire is one. You don’t have to wear motorcycle helmets there either. The official moto of New Hamphire used to be “Live Free or Die.” Now it is simply: “We are more Southern than you Wish You Ever Were Even If We Are Freezing Most of the Year.”
I’ve gotten two types of tickets here, I can’t exactly remember the values as they were a while back, but here we have to move our cars for street sweeping twice a week. But the other side gets swept on different days, so you have to be cognizant of it four days a week.
I don’t remember that happening in Europe much, but for an hour and a half period during the day it is illegal to park on one side of the street. Depending on the neighborhood though, there are different rules as to what you have to do. When I lived in Williamsburg, you couldn’t double park on the other side of the street. But here that is what we do.
If you don’t move your car, you get (I think) a 45 dollar fine. Oh yeah, they put a big neon sticker on your window too trying to shame you about it because you didn’t move your car.
One time, however, I was TWO MINUTES LATE in moving my car back after sweeping had ended, and lo and behold there was a cop writing me a ticket for double parking. Here I was trying to do the right thing when I’d have been better off just not having moved it at all. Anyway the double parking fine was like 120 dollars I think.
Wisconsin doesn’t have helmet laws either, and doesn’t require you to have insurance. But you’d have to be an idiot to not do either of those things, IMHO.
Correct, but I think many states are like that with helmets. New Hampshire is unusual in that it is the only state where you don’t have to wear a seatbelt if you’re over 18.
I’m not sure about “used to be”. It’s still on the license plates.
I got a $90 fine for speeding in fucking Ohio a few years ago. I’m only bitter because it was a total speed trap. I think I was going about 15 mph over the limit.
The funny thing was, the cop managed to copy every aspect of my address (my name, street name, city name) wrong AND he wrote the wrong zip code and it managed to arrive safely anyhow. Good show, USPS.
In Maryland there are really three types of State fines:
Payable Tickets like those listed & mentioned [including a not mentioned $40 for Driving without a Seatbelt]
Must Appear citations: these are serious, serious things like DUIs and driving with a suspended license. The “must appear” means you’re going to trial, and possibly facing jail & in any event will possibly include hefty 1000’s of dollars worth of fines.
There are also “points” based on the violation. Most, if not all states have them. If you rack up enough minor offenses over a short period of time (in Maryland this is 12 points in 2 years), and so trigger a point threshold, your license will be suspended or revoked. Insurance Companies have access to this system and may adjust their rates off of them…which is a back door “fine” for bad driving performance as well.
US fines, as I know them from this message board, never fail to amaze me with their leniency.
The AUD is about 90 US cents now, but let’s assume 1 : 1 for the purposes of this…
Johnny LA’s parking ticket of $18 would have been about $90 here. And that would be considered a small one - just a parking fine. Things like speeding are going to set you back several hundred dollars for a relatively minor offence. Faster, more in-you-face speeding starts getting you into big, big money, on the spot roadside licence disqualification, car impoundment, and potential jail time.
And demerit points. Forgot those. On public holiday long weekends, they are arbitrarily doubled for any given offence. If two passengers aren’t wearing seatbelts, for example, you can go from no demerits to the limit in one go. Bye bye licence.
I love the plates. It shows a nice pastel impressionist painting of a flowering tree in spring. So serene and peaceful. Then under that it says “live free or die”
I feel like I’m getting mixed messages here!
Btw to ad to the thread no proof of insurance in michigan = car towed and driver arrested. +$75 fine plus outragous impound fees till you get your car out.
My friend got nailed for barrowing and driving my other friend’s car not knowing it wasn’t insured. They threw the book at her anyway.