Or we could replace fines with suspension of driver privileges.

Sure, as soon as you have a viable method for funding the services that rely on that revenue.

Replace all fines (and most jail time) with community service, defined as something like "hours signed off by the director of any 501(c)(3)." Cut government programs that are now unnecessary because of all the community service.

The supply of community service hours is decentralized and 501(c)(3) organizations have limited input into law enforcement, so the government has less incentive to increase non-compliance to increase citations.

Also fun to see the entire C-suite of a company get 1000 hours of community service each instead of a fine paid by shareholders whose only mistake was hiring them.

If you wanted to try to design a system to let nepo-babies get out of any crime short of a felony with zero punishment it would be hard to imagine a system better than that.

I can form a 501c3 today, and as long as it doesn't funnel earnings to an individual (other than a very lavish salary) I could let people 'donate' their time at one of my community service parties, pay me a small fee, and issue a small donation to some local cause.

I'd hope that services are mostly paid for by taxes or user fees rather than fines.

No, budgets get rearranged to put the money towards other items when certain items can pay for themselves like this. There's only so much money raised via taxes. Income via fines is an unlimited well to be tapped by those with the creativity to find them

They're called taxes. You want the service--pay for it.

Using fines as a "revenue source" introduces so many perverse incentives into the system that it automatically becomes corrupt.

See: the incestuous relationships between the towing/repossession companies and the police.

Fines are good as deterrent. Fines should always go back to the public--they should never become state revenue. This breaks the incentives.

"Inflation reduction"