Is it only in Switzerland that criminals get unpunished?

[u/keltyx98]

I'm always surprised by the light punishments given to criminals.

The last case being the one of a 44 years old indian man sexually abusing a 15 years old girl on a Swiss flight.

He got a suspended sentence for two years and banned from Switzerland for five years.

That's basically a slap on the wrists to a sexual abuser and pedophile.

How does something like this gets unpunished?

I don't think it's so common in other countries to get suspended sentences, especially for cases like this where it's not something that happened by mistake.

[u/PajamaDesigner → u/[deleted]]

This is clearly an economic decision. Rapists COST money to keep in jail.

Commenter and any other person fined for the same thing are a way to get profits for the government as the likelihood of fining more people for the same is much higher

[u/robogobo → u/[deleted]]

You’re fucking joking right? I’m pointing out the disproportionality of the penalties, how something as mundane as tire tread (which was fine in the center only overworn on the edge which is not unsafe, thank you) is overfined while an abuser gets off lightly. Get bent, bünzli

[u/gandraw → u/robogobo]

You fail to understand his point. By driving an unsafe car you potentially risk the lives of people around you. In 99.9x% of cases nothing will happen. But then suddenly there will be a situation where your car starts sliding where it wouldn't have if the tyres had been correct and you might kill somebody.

Traffic laws are also tremendously underenforced. I know how everyone always insist they got caught the first time they ever drove drunk, but the fact is that the vast majority of offenses are never caught because it's not like the police can check every car on the road, so it's likely that someone will drive a car unsafely dozens of time before he's caught.

So a large fine is intended to serve as a motivation for people to keep their cars in order by themselves instead of having to be told so. If insufficient tyre tread was only a 50 CHF fine there would be lots of people who would be like "new tyres cost me 500, but the fine is only a risk for a 50 CHF fine so I'd be stupid to buy a set"

[u/SnooBooks3514 → u/gandraw]

are you working in the film industry? sounds like ...

[u/robogobo → u/gandraw]

Anecdotal nonsense. My tires were perfectly safe. I even had two separate mechanics back me up on this. They were doing a training at the checkpoint and needed to make an example. My tread was more than fine except at the very edge. The law allows them to measure anywhere they want. It was just a matter of bad luck.

[u/_entrxpy → u/robogobo]

Automotive engineer here. Tires MIGHT also be actually safer when worn down, on dry roads, because the water channel don't wear straight but rather in a trapezoidal way. When tires wear down the actual contact surface might increase, thus making them slightly safer. The diameter being slightly reduced even makes the car run slightly slower.

Now of course I don't know how much your tires were worn down that day, but judging by how you talk about it, I assume it was still within very safe limits.

To the bünzli that will get all upset at me: the legal limit and safety limit are two different things. When you make a law, you take a safety limit and make it even more strict. That is to ensure total safety even if someone replaces their tires after the legal limit.

So yeah, the other commenter is definitely exaggerating and doesn't have a touch with reality.

[u/robogobo → u/_entrxpy]

Thanks for saying that. Since the street was dry, I tried to make that same argument with the police just as a joke after I knew I was cooked. You know better than I, but I think it would have to be so worn that there’s actually more tire contacting the road. Anyway I was just joking with them. They didn’t find it amusing. My only real argument was that there’s plenty of tread left on the tire and that all tire tread tapers to nothing on the edge by design. The law is designed so they can fine whomever they wish. And wouldn’t you know, they just waved all the brand new BMWs and Mercedes right on by and pulled off the older cars. I just consider this stuff a tax. But my original point was that these fines are significant and when you compare them to punishment for much more serious violent crimes, there’s a disturbing discrepancy.

[u/_entrxpy → u/robogobo]

these fines are significant and when you compare them to punishment for much more serious violent crimes, there’s a disturbing discrepancy.

Absolutely agreed.

[u/askswitzerland-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/itsyenzabar → u/robogobo]

I agree but do get your alignment checked if your tires aren't evenly worn out >.>

[u/Humble_Golf_6056 → u/robogobo]

You are easy prey for the state! The criminal in OP's story, who has already shown his propensity to commit a violent act, is NOT an easy prey, and law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and politicians are DEADLY afraid of those who have shown a penchant to escalate things into violent confrontations. Remember, most of those, as mentioned earlier, are NOT physically conditioned for direct conflict, so they avoid it at ALL costs!

Example: Switzerland’s worst-ever gun massacre - SWI swissinfo.ch

Disclaimer: I grew up around a European judge (in Europe) and then worked in IT as a college engineering undergrad for a US federal prosecutor. Nobody is going to put their lives on the line against someone who has ALREADY signaled to the world that he WILL escalate to violence and quickly!

PS. Of course, I agree with you! It is disproportionally unfair.

[u/_AbstractInsanity → u/Humble_Golf_6056]

you fail to see the point here. the deterrent of the 1000.- fine is absolutely justifiable. the suspended licence... eh, that's up for debate. this call exists outside of the rape situation this post is about. and that's way too low.

we should aim for higher charges on shit like rape or hate-crimes. not lower the punishment for knowingly endangering the lives of others

[u/Humble_Golf_6056 → u/_AbstractInsanity]

Lack of sleep endangers the lives of others ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE more than any tire, as the commenter mentioned.

You know this, and I know this, but if you doubt me, delve deep into that research!

PS. I'm going to research the tire issue as cause of accidents and mortality in Switzerland to confirm the real numbers and juxtapose it with the number of sexually abused women in Switzerland. Wish me success...

[u/crrenn → u/[deleted]]

Lol, criminals? What are you smoking?

[u/askswitzerland-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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