Why is bribing traffic police in normal and not so serious traffic law violations commonly considered as a bad thing?
It is common knowledge that bribery is a form of corruption which can lead to many bad consequences. However, when I compare the benefit and cost of bribing polices, it turns out that bribery in this case does more good than harm to the society. So, what is the benefit of bribery?
Why and when do we have to bribe the traffic polices? The answer: when we get caught violating the traffic laws [speed, crossing, helmet, … anything] and we do not want to pay like what is stated in law. There are many reasons why we do not want to obey the law. Mostly, we want to avoid red-tape and inconvenience when our licenses are collected or our vehicles are detained. When we do not hold our driving license in hand, it is illegally to ride a motor or to drive a car. It is needless to say how inconvenient it is when we are unable to use private transportation, especially in Vietnam. This will lead to lower productivity and higher cost in logistics. In some cases, bribery may result in lower fines in comparison with obeying the law, though I believe it is not the main incentive to bribe.
Bribery does some good to the police, also. It is obvious that bribery helps raise the police’s income which is usually low [if it was not low, they would not commit bribery]. Moreover, bribery helps save time. Let us have a look at the progress of fining a typical law violation. The police sees the traffic offender, follows and catches him. Then, the police will ask for the offender’s paper. If the violation is not so serious, the police will fine, make him sign a few papers and let him go. In case of serious offence or lack of necessary paper such as driving license, the police will get the offenders to the police station. Such action will cost a lot of time. And if there are many offenders at the same time, it will be nearly impossible for the police to behave such.
Some may argue that if bribery is legally allowed, the budget will lose a considerable amount of fining money. It is true. However, it is not important because the main purpose of fining is not to increase government budget but to prevent people from breaking the law. Therefore, it does not matter who GETS the fines. Do drivers feel better if they know their money run into government budget instead of the police’s pockets? Does paying the government make the drivers drive more carefully? I do not think so. Moreover, bribery grants traffic police incentives to be hard-working. The more they work, the more offenders they can catch, the bigger their income is. If more people get caught, less people will dare to break the law. And the whole society benefit from it.
So, I suggest that bribery in this case should be legalized. Most of the fines money should be granted to the police in order to create incentives. Of course, this should only be applied in normal offence. In case the offence involves human life or reaches a certain level, the police will have to pay more attention. If this idea can come into reality, I believe it will make a huge change in the way we commute.
It is common knowledge that bribery is a form of corruption which can lead to many bad consequences. However, when I compare the benefit and cost of bribing polices, it turns out that bribery in this case does more good than harm to the society. So, what is the benefit of bribery?
Why and when do we have to bribe the traffic polices? The answer: when we get caught violating the traffic laws [speed, crossing, helmet, … anything] and we do not want to pay like what is stated in law. There are many reasons why we do not want to obey the law. Mostly, we want to avoid red-tape and inconvenience when our licenses are collected or our vehicles are detained. When we do not hold our driving license in hand, it is illegally to ride a motor or to drive a car. It is needless to say how inconvenient it is when we are unable to use private transportation, especially in Vietnam. This will lead to lower productivity and higher cost in logistics. In some cases, bribery may result in lower fines in comparison with obeying the law, though I believe it is not the main incentive to bribe.
Bribery does some good to the police, also. It is obvious that bribery helps raise the police’s income which is usually low [if it was not low, they would not commit bribery]. Moreover, bribery helps save time. Let us have a look at the progress of fining a typical law violation. The police sees the traffic offender, follows and catches him. Then, the police will ask for the offender’s paper. If the violation is not so serious, the police will fine, make him sign a few papers and let him go. In case of serious offence or lack of necessary paper such as driving license, the police will get the offenders to the police station. Such action will cost a lot of time. And if there are many offenders at the same time, it will be nearly impossible for the police to behave such.
Some may argue that if bribery is legally allowed, the budget will lose a considerable amount of fining money. It is true. However, it is not important because the main purpose of fining is not to increase government budget but to prevent people from breaking the law. Therefore, it does not matter who GETS the fines. Do drivers feel better if they know their money run into government budget instead of the police’s pockets? Does paying the government make the drivers drive more carefully? I do not think so. Moreover, bribery grants traffic police incentives to be hard-working. The more they work, the more offenders they can catch, the bigger their income is. If more people get caught, less people will dare to break the law. And the whole society benefit from it.
So, I suggest that bribery in this case should be legalized. Most of the fines money should be granted to the police in order to create incentives. Of course, this should only be applied in normal offence. In case the offence involves human life or reaches a certain level, the police will have to pay more attention. If this idea can come into reality, I believe it will make a huge change in the way we commute.
Kz
July, 2011
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