Cambridge City Councilor Nadeem Mazen thinks the cost of motor-vehicle infractions unfairly burdens low-income residents - and lets the well off just laugh off infractions - so he's proposing the city start basing fines on drivers' income.

The council considers Mazen's request at its meeting tonight, Robert Winter alerts us.

Mazen's proposal is known as "day fining" because fines are based on a person's daily income, rather than a set amount per infraction. In his request to have the city manager develop a day-fine system for Cambridge, he writes such fines

Lessen the impact on vulnerable individuals and provides a meaningful deterrent against unethical behavior for residents of means who would otherwise treat civil fines as a trivial fee.

He acknowledged that past trial efforts at day fining in the US have been hampered by difficulties determining a driver's income, but said the current state of technology means that shouldn't be an issue anymore. In any case, he adds: