Australia has more or less exactly the same point system except (I think) points are nation wide. I would say that the cooldown periods are statistically forgiv

Australia has more or less exactly the same point system except (I think) points are nation wide. I would say that the cooldown periods are statistically forgiving though. You recover 4 points every year and most fines are 2-4 points. It's generally only pretty extreme cases (as the GP points out) that cause a license to be completely suspended (and even then it sometimes doesn't stop people driving anyway). Hence the GP (and me, personally) agreeing with income based fines as an actual deterrent.