Please don’t get me wrong, to begin with, i do appreciate what the police are doing, and i understand that they are trying to deal with EXTREMIST choices done by our Parliament, in fact i was thinking of the title “When the average cop is smarter than the parliamentarian”
It is silly when a simple ticket can be equal to the average monthly pay, it is even sillier when a serious one can be 5 times your pay, Simply put, our police feel that the punishment does not fit the crime, and before you criticize this statement, I do have evidence this is the case, READ ON and remember right and wrong are a relative thing, taking the law into the force’s own hands can be wrong, but in reality, what happens after issuing a ticket can affect a child’s school tuition, or even the quality of food.
*If you scroll down, you will find a table of penalties and a little comparison with the UK (Since the US does not have 1 law for traffic offenders)
Then comes the problem, Traffic Police do there best not to issue tickets, People break the law and it goes unpunished… and as usual there are victims, for example ME.
Right in front of my office, there is this big parking area, it can accommodate 2 rows of cars, but surely cars in the inner row will not be able to leave if someone is parked right behind them, and there is someone parked right behind your car every single minute of the day Ok, 95% of the Day, but i certainly never wanted to leave at day time and managed to do it in a timely manner (NEVER).
Some time around the evening, a police car comes and says (on the loudspeaker), People please move your cars, the ticket for this is 50JDs, please move your cars, So the people parked in the outer row rush to there cars and move them, but this police car is not always around to keep the area clean, and 5 minutes after the car leaves, the space would have been occupied again with a new second row of cars (And some of the old cars that have been waiting for the cops to go away). Notice that sometimes a car or two do not move, even those don’t get a ticket.
So, basically what happens is this, If i am in a hurry to meet a client at the office, and i park WHERE I SHOULD theoretically, i am sure to be stuck to the end of the day, 8PM for example, since i can’t just sit there and wait for the car behind me to move, even when i do, and when the driver of the car blocking my way comes, he apologizes, and voila, nothing you can do. You open your mouth, you could trigger a fight (Since your adrenalin is already pumping), and someone like me can not afford that week of daily visits to the police station, or as you can imagine Jail !
So, Dear members of our parliament, Please be kind and THINK before you make your Judgment and approve this stuff, I understand that many of you have not completed elementary school successfully, and some believe in capital punishment, and some think that if you make a mistake it is only fair that you starve, and i understand you got there because you have the most money (And money makes you look wise), but it is never too late, there are schools that can teach you the alphabets of common sense And how change can only be gradual. Next thing you know it, they will ban cigarettes and anyone smoking will do time, (Your addiction is none of our business).
NOTE: a statistical sample would show you that it is the money not the tribe (Family in arabic) is the one doing most damage, and if you take a closer look you will find that the members with higher qualifications are the ones elected by our (Modernized) tribes (I don’t support Tribal things, birth rights are something i hate, but no dount it is less harmfull that the all mighty Dinar) , and as usual money is the root of all evil.
Some famous quotes on democracy.
Democracy is a system ensuring that the people are governed no better than they deserve. (George Bernard Shaw)
Yes, my favorite
Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. (Abraham Lincoln)
You really think so or is this lip service again ? r u not the one that tried to color-code the slavery system ?
The strongest argument against democracy is a five minute discussion with the average voter. (Sir Winston Churchill)
Winston, How dare you.
Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried. (Sir Winston Churchill)
Very funny
Democracy is the best revenge. (Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto)
I would put it in a different way… it is the 70 JDs worth of misery, Yes the ones you took.
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Before you get here, remember, this article is about my problem with people going unpunished for parking there cars behind me, it is the oral comments i have received that forced me to extend this to Fines, comparisons, democracy, and all that useless junk to prove my point, i hope you see what i mean after all of this
1- Our penalties
I got this table in an email and have not yet verified the accuracy.
| The offense | Fine | Your criminal punishment… (And no, there is no grammatical error, criminal refers to the punishment) | What i think (It’s my blog remember), and i don’t care how it works abroad, especially when i compare the income levels |
| Parking in a no – parking zone | 30 | Should have a variable fine, both the entrance of a hospital’s ICU/CCU and right in front of my house in the middle of nowhere are no parking zones | |
| Not using the seat belt while driving | 50 | Like the above, are you suggesting no seat belt on the highway is as serious as no seat belt in my little town where i can do a max of 40 ? Can you blame the police officer when he decides not to give me that fine in most cases… | |
| Using the cell phone while driving | 50 | this one is controversial anyway. the headset is just as distracting but there is no fine for that. | |
| Eating, drinking, smoking …etc. while driving | 50 | So, a big mac while driving is equivalent to a cigarette, r u crazy | |
| Baby in front seats | 50 | Agreed | |
| Not making a complete stop at the stop sign | 50 | Agreed, But why this serious offence that could kill someone else is a 50, and MY seat belt is also a 50 ! | |
| Driving a Jordanian car with a foreign driving license | 150 | or 1 – 4 weeks prison or both | Yes, knowing how qualified Jordanian drivers are, we think everyone else’s driving sucks. We don’t even bother to manage a list of qualifying countries |
| Hit and Run | 250 | Plus 1 – 3 months prison or both. | Should be a civil crime. |
| Crossing a red light | 250 | Plus 1 – 3 months prison or both | And they are all equal, how about a range for a change. |
| Driving against the traffic in a one way street | 250 | Or 1 – 3 months prison or both | |
| Driving under the influence of Alcohol | 500 | or 3 – 6 months prison or both | So, as bad as this is, are you saying it is worse than Driving in the wrong direction in a one way street, are you sure there is no religious background to this arbitrary Judgment, and what happened to the “One cup of beer is ok” theory. can people who have only had that one cup qualify for a discount ? maybe 2 months in prison, and a 250 JD fine ?… And this is the one offence totally ignored on New Years Eve, but Never ever ignored on any other day ! |
| Driving without a license | 500 | Or 3 – 6 months prison or both | Oh, yea, Kill him |
| Exceeding the speed limit with 1 – 10 Km per hour | 50 | 2 much, for heaven’s sake most streets have a speed limit of 60, should i do 40 all the time just to be on the safe side ? | |
| Exceeding the speed limit with 10 – 20 Km per hour | 100 | Ok, this one you should be penalized for, but remind me of the minimum wage in Jordan ! | |
| Exceeding the speed limit with 20 – 30 Km per hour | 150 | Plus 1 – 3 months prison or both | This is quite serious, but again Please remind me of the minimum wage in Jordan ! |
| Exceeding the speed limit with 30 – 40 Km per hour | 200 | Plus 1 – 3 months prison or both | You just came close the Official Average monthly income ! smart move. |
| Exceeding the speed limit with over 40 Km per hour | 250 | Or 3 – 6 months prison and withdrawal of license, either both or all. | Fair. Actually, Why either both or all. Surely the withdrawal of the license (Disqualification of the driver for a finite amount of time) is essential, how can you leave me alone in the street with someone this ignorant… (NOTICE he could be doing 200KMs/h) |
Comparing to the UK.
in the UK, fines range between 50 Euros and 5000, they have a pointing system where you are disqualified from driving once you accumulate 12 points (So that’s where we got the pointing system)
So, let us take a look how our fines are in most cases higher than the UK, and we get paid much less for our valuable services.
| Since i can predict answer’s i will post a comparison here, the Euro and the dinar are very similar so i will not post a currency | ||
| Offence | United Kingdom | Hashemite kingdom of Jordan |
| Speeding | Average 60 | Average 150 |
| Minor offence like the use of a mobile phone while driving | 30. | 50, and remember, the English get paid much more than we do. |
| Alcohol | 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters of breath ALLOWED, (a pint of beer/ a glass of wine/ an equivalent measure of spirits) will not take you to that point, if you are considerably above the limit (you fail the breath test), the fine is usually around 400, if you get into an accident or your drinking causes allot of trouble, it can go up to the maximum 5k and Jail time ! but then you probably put someone at serious risk or caused the loss of a life so it is still fair,There is some discretion where the disqualification would stop someone from earning a living or if it was a genuine emergency.You must leave your car until you’re sober enough to move it, or another ‘legal’ driver can move it with your permission. Failure to give a breath test is an offence. | Regardless, the fine is 500 and you get 3-6 months in Jail. Who cares how much you have had, or if anyone died due to your stupidity.Even if it happens that your friend had a heart attack and you had to take him to a hospital, same fine same Jail time. |