Penalties to Discourage

If fines are there to discourage potential offenders, then why do they say:

Maximum fine $1500…

Shouldn’t they be posting the minimum fine, and making this amount high enough to discourage potential offenders?

Posting a maximum fine, will give potential offenders the opportunity to say:

Well I can afford $1500, so I will commit the offense

In Hong Kong the Health Department has a hotline for citizens to call to report offending drivers who throw garbage out their vehicles. I ask, what is the purpose of such a hotline?

  1. Is the fact that someone else call to complain the government will automatically fine the owner of the vehicle in question?
  2. How does the government expects to prove that the individual had committed the offense?
  3. How can the government determine who is the actual driver who committed the offense?

You see, it appears that once again the government has not thought though the process before they spend the time to implement it.

Now the HKSAR (Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region) is about to implement a citywide smoking band, but there are yet to be clear and simple published process in place to enforce these band. I hope the government thinks this through and most of all put into consideration the actual individuals who will be enforcing the band. In most cases these individuals will be establishment owners or representatives rather than government employees.