If you want to decrease the amount of dangerous driving, make it more costly

See Caution Ahead! Vietnam’s Drivers Are Suddenly Following the Rules: Steep new fines — more than many people make in a month — have made the streets of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi less freewheeling than they used to be by Damien Cave of The New York Times. Excerpts:

"Under a new law, traffic fines have risen tenfold, with the biggest tickets exceeding $1,500. The average citation tops a month’s salary for many, and that’s more than enough to change behavior. Intersections have become both calmer and more congested by an outbreak of caution. Faulty green lights have even led scared drivers to walk motorbikes across streets the police might be watching."

"(Ho Chi Minh City reported that ticket revenue jumped 35 percent in the law’s first two weeks)."

"As the traffic lights turned red, the rush of motorbikes and cars — usually constant — suddenly stopped."

"Since stepped-up enforcement started, beer sales have fallen by 25 percent, and drunken driving has declined across Vietnam."

"Though some motorbike riders still speed against traffic, and on sidewalks, far more stop when they should alongside the country’s growing ranks of cars and trucks."

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