GoCompare has researched 31 OECD member countries (and South Africa) and ranked their varying costs of driving fines (with no added surcharges) based on:

  • Speeding 21km/h (approx 13mph) over the limit 
  • Using a mobile phone while driving
  • Driving a red light

Speeding

Based on the amount of money, in Rand, Poland is the cheapest country and Norway is the most expensive. South Africa is the 8th cheapest place to get a fine for speeding.

  1. Poland R 356,65
  2. Lithuania R 463,72
  3. Czech Republic R 607,63
  4. Latvia R 618,23
  5. Luxembourg R 757,28
  6. Austria R 772,75
  7. Portugal R 927,26
  8. South Africa R1 000,00
  9. Slovak Republic R1 081,77
  10. Germany R1 081,77

However, if figures are based on percentage of earnings, South Africa is rated just outside of the top 10 most expensive countries:

  1. Estonia, 31.75% (of average monthly salary)
  2. Norway, 14.11%
  3. United Kingdom, 11.53%
  4. Hungary, 10.49%
  5. Iceland, 9.91%
  6. Sweden, 8.23%
  7. Italy, 6.94%
  8. Greece, 6.92%
  9. Slovak Republic, 6.36%
  10. Australia, 5.90%

     12. South Africa, 5.09%

Note:

  • The following data was calculated based on that the motorist committed the offence on a highway or motorway by driving 21 km/h above the maximum speed limit
  • The monthly average salary of a person in South Africa is R19 633
  • In South Africa, the average person would have to work 1.49 days to pay back a speeding fine


Using a mobile phone while driving

The fine for using a mobile phone in driving is particularly cheap – in value – for South Africa, with the country being in the 10 cheapest countries to receive this fine.

  1. Latvia, R 386,37
  2. Hungary, R 475,54
  3. Czech Republic, R 607,63
  4. New Zealand, R 697,49
  5. Poland, R 713,30
  6. Austria, R 772,75
  7. Slovak Republic, R 927,26
  8. Ireland, R 927,26
  9. South Africa, R 927,26
  10. Estonia, R1 236,46

When basing the figures on monthly average salaries, South Africa place in the middle of the rankings.

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  1. Spain, 8.55%
  2. Portugal, 8.45%
  3. Lithuania, 8.10%
  4. Israel, 7.87%
  5. Greece, 6.92%
  6. United Kingdom, 6.83%
  7. Canada, 6.80%
  8. Italy, 6.57%
  9. Estonia, 6.35%
  10. Slovenia, 6.08%

     14. South Africa, 5.09%

Note:

  • In South Africa the average person would have to work 1.55 days to pay back the above fine

Driving through a red light

South Africa falls just outside the cheapest ten countries for a fine for driving through a red light.

  1. Poland, R 356,65
  2. Latvia, R 463,72
  3. Lithuania, R 927,43
  4. Finland, R1 012,25
  5. Austria, R1 081,77
  6. Portugal, R1 156,34
  7. Ireland, R1 236,46
  8. New Zealand, R1 307,72
  9. United States, R1 320, 93
  10. Germany, R1 390,98
  11. South Africa, R1 500


South Africa again sit in the middle of the rankings when using monthly average salary as a metric for measuring how much driver’s are out of pocket in each country.

  1. Greece, 48.45%
  2. Hungary, 17.48%
  3. Estonia, 15.88%
  4. Slovenia, 15.19%
  5. Norway, 15.00%
  6. Slovak Republic, 13.64%
  7. Israel, 11.80%
  8. Sweden, 8.81%
  9. Spain, 8.55%
  10. Czech Republic, 8.34%

     12. South Africa, 7.64%

How we worked out the data:

  • For countries with fines relative to the offender’s income, it is assumed that the offender earned the country’s average monthly salary
  • A full list of sources is available here
  • Average annual and monthly salary data was sourced from the OECD (National Currency Units for 2017)
  • The data represented in the analyses for Australia, Canada and the United States are samples based on fines incurred in the state of New South Wales (Australia), the province of British Columbia (Canada), and the city of Los Angeles (USA)

This content was provided by GoCompare. You can explore the full data-set here >> https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/harsher-penalties/#/

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