4 ms·

Don't you have a score system? It has a noticeable effect, that probably happens by taking the insane drivers off the road. You start with ten points that you

by narag 8y ago

Don't you have a score system? It has a noticeable effect, that probably happens by taking the insane drivers off the road. You start with ten points that you lose with infractions, more points for more serious ones. If you run out of points, you don't drive or face jail.

jcims 8y ago
Yes. We usually start at zero though.
astura 8y ago
It plain just doesn't work (as implemented.) First off, it is much too lenient and the points drop off your record much too quickly. Most infractions can be reduced in court and many crashes (especially single car crashes) don't result in infractions unless they are serious. Secondly, those people will just drive unlicensed anyway, so it really doesn't matter if we take their license away or put them in jail for a month, they already don't follow the rules and don't give a shit. There's nothing physically preventing someone unlicensed, uninsured, or unfit to drive from climbing into an vehicle, starting the engine, and driving on public roads. The only thing that can deter them is getting arrested after the fact, but that's pretty rare. My dad lost his licence years ago (for good reason) and a judge has denied his application to get it reinstated many times (for good reason). He still drives all the time and still crashes his truck fairly regularly. Sure, he gets arrested once in a while, but that doesn't stop him.
- narag 8y ago
  The difference seems to be that here in Spain you are seldom sentenced to less than two years. Jail, when you finally get there, is a serious matter. And of course you can't drive in prison so problem solved :) Points and permit revoking are the way to fast-track what otherwise would be administrative sanctions, clustering them to build a criminal case.
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
Unfortunately one of the downsides of living in one of the non-terrible parts of the US is that you basically need a car to be a functional member of society. The insane drivers stay on the road because they just drive illegally. They borrow their spouses cars and stuff. There isn't much appetite for points systems in the US because points systems just enrich the state and insurance companies at the expense of commuters because our laws about how traffic should work are so detached from what traffic actually does.
- astura 8y ago
  The vast majority of States in the United States have a points system. I won't even address "non-terrible parts of the US" nonsense.

by narag 8y ago

jcims 8y ago

Yes. We usually start at zero though.

astura 8y ago

It plain just doesn't work (as implemented.) First off, it is much too lenient and the points drop off your record much too quickly. Most infractions can be reduced in court and many crashes (especially single car crashes) don't result in infractions unless they are serious. Secondly, those people will just drive unlicensed anyway, so it really doesn't matter if we take their license away or put them in jail for a month, they already don't follow the rules and don't give a shit. There's nothing physically preventing someone unlicensed, uninsured, or unfit to drive from climbing into an vehicle, starting the engine, and driving on public roads. The only thing that can deter them is getting arrested after the fact, but that's pretty rare. My dad lost his licence years ago (for good reason) and a judge has denied his application to get it reinstated many times (for good reason). He still drives all the time and still crashes his truck fairly regularly. Sure, he gets arrested once in a while, but that doesn't stop him.

narag 8y ago
The difference seems to be that here in Spain you are seldom sentenced to less than two years. Jail, when you finally get there, is a serious matter. And of course you can't drive in prison so problem solved :) Points and permit revoking are the way to fast-track what otherwise would be administrative sanctions, clustering them to build a criminal case.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

Unfortunately one of the downsides of living in one of the non-terrible parts of the US is that you basically need a car to be a functional member of society. The insane drivers stay on the road because they just drive illegally. They borrow their spouses cars and stuff. There isn't much appetite for points systems in the US because points systems just enrich the state and insurance companies at the expense of commuters because our laws about how traffic should work are so detached from what traffic actually does.

astura 8y ago
The vast majority of States in the United States have a points system. I won't even address "non-terrible parts of the US" nonsense.