Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Make mine a double.

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Proportional Meter Fines

 Less time, less money.
  (+16)(+16)
(+16) 		  [vote for,
against]

Have you ever gotten a ticket for being a minute over. Why should you pay the same ammount when you're 30 minutes over. The meter would continue to countdown beyond the red. If the officer came back, he could write a second or third ticket.
—miggavin, Oct 06 2005

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       Sounds reasonable.
—wagster, Oct 06 2005
   

       Yes I have?   

       +
—csea, Oct 06 2005
   

       I don't have fond memories of parking meters, but to add to your idea I might suggest that the meter counts down the minutes until zero, then displays the value of the fine as an ever increasing number.   

       Using a digital meter, the fine could be varied according to the number of empty parking spots; time of day and so on.
—Ling, Oct 06 2005
   

       I'm bunning it, but I like [Ling]'s version better.
—elhigh, Oct 11 2005
   

       I agree. Proportional meter fines will encourage people to move their car sooner. Most times when a driver goes past their time and gets a ticket, 9 times out of 10 they will say, "screw it" and wont bother moving or putting more money in the meter since they already got the $50 ticket.   

       At least if it the cost of parking went from $2 for 30 minutes to $1 per minute they are more likely to take action.
—Jscotty, Oct 11 2005
   

       This, or at least [Ling]'s variation is a much fairer way of doing things, which is probably exactly why municipal authorities haven't adopted it. Parking fines are a nice revenue stream and I would guess they've worked out that they accrue more money by charging everyone a flat fee, rather than billing offenders proportionally.

Wankers!
—DocBrown, Oct 11 2005
   

       Really [DocBrown], I'm sure they have your best interests at heart...
—wagster, Oct 11 2005
   

       Puh! [wags]. Double puh and thrice puh! I'm sorry, I got fined the other day and the wound is still fresh.
—DocBrown, Oct 11 2005
   

       It wouldn't be too hard to modify the charge/min to give a revenue neutral scheme.
Although there may well have to be a small initial step to cover the cost of administration.
—Loris, Oct 11 2005
   

       Ling, cities often change fine rates. Unless there was a simple way to change it on every meter, it would be easier just to let the cops figure it out when they write the ticket.
—miggavin, Feb 22 2006
   


 

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