Speeding motorist fined $290,000

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ZURICH | Thu Jan 7, 2010 12:21pm EST

ZURICH (Reuters) - A millionaire motorist clocked up a record fine of 299,000 Swiss francs ($290,000) after Swiss police caught him racing through a village at 100 km per hour in his red Ferrari Testarossa, Swiss media reported on Thursday.

A court in the northeastern Swiss canton of St Gallen gave the millionaire the hefty penalty, which outstripped the previous record of 111,000 francs handed a Porsche driver in 2008 in Zurich, after a string of previous traffic offences.

"The accused ignored elementary traffic rules with a powerful vehicle out of a pure desire for speed," the court said in its judgment of the motorist, who clocked speeds of up to 137 km per hour on country roads, said daily Blick.

The St Gallen Cantonal Court ordered the man to dip into his 23.3 million franc fortune, which included a villa with a garage containing five luxury cars.

Court officials said they could not immediately confirm details of the case.

In October, St Gallen police pulled over another speeding motorist after he committed 15 traffic offences in 10 minutes, including driving on the hard shoulder, jumping a red light and failing to stop for police.

(Writing by Jason Rhodes; Editing by Charles Dick)
Oddly Enough
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Comments (13)
CrazyComposer wrote:
While it seems like a high fine, and it would be for someone who only earns $40,000 a year and barely has a savings account, when you have 23 MILLION Francs (about $22 million dollars) the fine turns out to be something around 1% of his fortune.

Oh … scary. 1 whole percent. That may actually make him consider driving 1 percent slower. Or not. This is not a fine that punishes someone who can afford to purchase the legal system. His license should have been revoked and he should have been fined one MILLION Francs. That would have sent a message to all other drivers.

Make the penalties relative to what someone has, with one exception: revoke the license and take away the vehicle. Make the fine 10% of what the person owns. If that isn’t enough of an incentive to drive within the boundaries of the law, people shouldn’t be allowed to drive.

Remember, it is a privilege to drive, not a right; that’s why you require a license to drive.

If drivers knew that they would lose their licenses for reckless driving – without getting a chance to get it back – do you honestly think people would be as cavalier about the way they followed the law? It’s time for drivers to stop acting like there are no ramifications to their actions.

Jan 08, 2010 1:38pm EST  --  Report as abuse
PeterC wrote:
How about the same rules for Bankers…when they use their massive fund vehicles and take the short cuts to bonus destinations but do so by speedy and dangerous lending practices. They can get bonuses, why not fines too?

Jan 08, 2010 2:04pm EST  --  Report as abuse
SpectreWriter wrote:
CrazyComposer, you were doing good until you said “It is a privilege to drive, not a riht; that’s why you require a license to drive.” *THEY* require a license, for starters, but more to the point, THEY require it because they can, to control people. That’s no proof that it is Privilege. Virtually everyone can get a license. More importantly, people are presumed to have the right to travel, and to own the property known as a car, so it is entirely reasonable to say one has the right to travel via that owned property.

What you were correct about is that with rights come responsibilities.

Jan 08, 2010 2:21pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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