It's not that the punishments are too harsh (I think here it's $5 for each mile over up until 20 miles over, because 20mi is reckless driving and that's a lot worse.) You also pay court fees, which is another $70 or so. That alone isn't that harsh, because figure if you're 14 over that's $140 fine. It's a lot of money to just give away, but it's not excessive. The reasoning for judges reducing the charge is to avoid the insurance spike. I know my parents pay, just for me, the price it costs both of them to be insured. I'm an 18 year old male, so a speeding ticket is something that could fuck up the cost of insurance even more.