Should wealthy drivers pay higher fines for speeding? Many B.C. residents think so

Most British Columbians would support a system of "progressive punishment" that forces wealthier drivers to pay stiffer penalties when they're caught speeding, according to a new survey.
The Research Co. poll found 69 per cent of B.C. residents in favour of issuing fines based on a driver's disposable income and how fast they were going.
That's slightly higher than the 65 per cent support recorded across Canada. When it comes to political leanings, pollsters found similar levels of support across all three major parties – though there were variations based on class.
"Canadians in the highest income bracket are decidedly more dissatisfied with the concept of progressive punishment for speeding tickets," Research Co. president Mario Canseco said in a news release.
"Opposition to this course of action among Canadians who live in households earning more than $100,000 a year reaches 34 per cent, 10 points higher than the national average."
Progressive punishments for speeders have already been implemented in Finland and Switzerland, and the idea sparked debate across B.C. earlier this year when a city councillor in the Vancouver Island community of Saanich put forward a motion calling on the province to consider such a system locally.
No one on council seconded Teale Phelps Bondaroff's motion, however.
Research Co.'s survey was conducted online from March 18 to 20 among 1,000 Canadian adults, and the results were statistically weighted according to census figures for age, gender and region.
The survey's margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'We're going to rebuild': Indigenous communities look to recover from devastating wildfires
The East Prairie Métis Settlement is one of several Indigenous communities that were hard-hit by the recent wildfires in Alberta. As the wildfire season rages on, residents and community officials are looking among the ruins, pondering how they’ll recover from all the losses.

Blue Jays pitcher 'truly sorry' for sharing anti-LGBTQ2S+ video
Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass said he is 'truly sorry' for sharing a controversial anti-LGBTQ2S+ video on Instagram.
O'Toole says CSIS told him he was focus of Chinese misinformation, suppression effort
Conservative MP Erin O'Toole says Canada's spy agency has told him he was the target of Chinese interference intended to to discredit him and promote false narratives about his policies while party leader.
Alberta Premier Smith wants to 'reset' federal-provincial relationship while eyeing sovereignty act
Fresh off leading Alberta's United Conservative Party to a majority victory on Monday night, Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to 'reset' her relationship with the federal government, while readying to invoke the province's sovereignty act over emissions targets, if needed.
Low sexual satisfaction linked to memory decline later in life: study
Low sexual satisfaction in middle age could be linked to future memory decline, according to a new study.
New study finds Canadian women are more likely to adhere to social and democratic values than men
New data from the General Social Survey by Statistics Canada examined values across different Canadian demographics and found that Canadian women are more likely to closely adhere to most social and democratic values than Canadian men.
Over half of Canadians say the city or town they live in has become noisier: poll
A new survey conducted by Research Co. reveals that over half of Canadians experience more noise in their city or town than they did last year.
U.S. officer shoots at truck driver near N.B. border crossing
Traffic is back up and running through the border crossing between Woodstock, N.B., and Houlton, Maine, after a security scare Monday.
Debt limit deal heads to vote in full House while McCarthy scrambles for GOP approval
Under fire from conservatives, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy worked furiously Tuesday to sell fellow Republicans on the debt ceiling and budget deal he negotiated with President Joe Biden and win approval in time to avert a potentially disastrous U.S. default.