I remember hearing about this. Seems like an interesting way to prevent traffic fines from becoming a regressive tax. And obviously it points out one of the many ways in which my comment oversimplifies the criminal justice system :-)

In this case the "profit" part of my equation would change based on individual circumstances.

The "profit" of speeding to your finance job where you make $500/hour is much higher than that of speeding to your minimum wage job at McDonalds.

I think that's why we punish serious crimes with time in prison, not fines.