reading reports from the Magistrates

I'm not really supposed to read this because it always disappointments me...

First up: Someone was fined £35 for drunk and disorderly.

£35? WTF?

If you think I need to say more on this, then this might be worth a read.

And then some chap admitted driving without insurance. He was fined £256....which he must have been well chuffed about because it's probably less than his insurance would have been in the first place.

If you fail to pay for a parking ticket of, lets say, £1 - you're likely to get hit with a fine of £60. About 60 times more than it would have cost you in a first place. This is certainly makes a compelling argument to pay for your ticket in the first place.

So, lets say that the average cost of insuring a car is £200. Perhaps a fine of around £12,000 would be more of a disincentive?