Swiss hand out $312,000 speeding ticket

By Alborz Fallah | January 10th, 2010

If you thought we had it bad here in Australia, think again. A Swiss driver has received the speeding ticket of the century, $312,000 (£180,000) for driving 137km/h through a village with a 80km/h speed limit.

No, he didn’t kill anyone, nor did anyone get hurt. Even his red Ferrari Testarossa was undamaged. The reason the fine is so high is because of the laws the Swiss have enacted to combat speeding.

The high speed fines are calculated based on the motorist’s wealth, in this case assessed by the court as $24m, it also didn’t help that he was a repeat offender.

Switzerland is officially the country to avoid if fast cars are your thing. 2008 saw a fine of over $100,000 handed to a Porsche driver in Zurich.

Do you think calculating the cost of speeding tickets based on the driver’s wealth is a good idea? We can only assume the state authorities in Australia already working out how much extra revenue could be raised if the same laws applied here.

Andronicus

This is not a good idea for Australia. If it were to come in to effect it would mean that Holden drivers would generally be charged around $4.20 per speeding ticket because of their low socio-economic situation.

Couldn’t resist that gee up.

Andrew M

Thats very clever, but it would also mean Kia drivers would get slugged even less…..
Now there is a gee up for the other knotted up crowd on here

o

I reckon Hyundai/Kia would be high seeing as some owners are so stingy

Car-man

value for money meens stingy?

TuffGuy

Holden drivers may only have to pay 4.20 because of their socio economic situation but Ford drivers will not have to pay anything at all. If one ever actually gets going (down a steep hill maybe) fast enough to break the speed limit the cops will just take pity on them because things can’t get any worse for Ford drivers.

Minnow

That would mean BMW and Mercedes drivers would be paid to speed since theyre in so much debt?

TomR

More crazy Ipswich bogans hooning around in their Bombadores…….. get charged one or two dollars for speeding…….
PogO

Set a minimum fine and it should be good.
Adam

If you are in massive debt, do they give you money back?!

But on a more serious note, ticketing based on their wealth does sound like a good idea. What’s 200 dollar from a multi-millionare? The bottle of wine he drinks in the afternoon will probably cost X times more then what the ticket will cost!
Shak

We should set speeding fines on wealth. For all those rich buggers who try and avoid tax and speeding fines , they deserve to pay more for those of us who cant.

Andrew M

Just a thought, If you are bankrupt or in a lot of debt, does that mean you get paid for speeding???

Shak

No you just pay less. Your still breaking the dumb law. Not that any of us care.

Aleks

“Do you think calculating the cost of speeding tickets based on the driver’s wealth is a good idea”

Its an excellent Idea, because $300 dollars doesn’t hurt the same for someone who drives 1987 falcon and someone who drives a 2009 M3.

Trump

Half of what generated the large fine has been missed in the comments here.

The driver was a repeat offender. This already happens in most Australian law except on the roads. Most judges will consult your record when deciding the penalties and most people will agree this is the best way to punish repeat offenders. Why not apply it to speeding fines too.

Cupid Stunt

Serves the driver right, not that I agree with earnings related anything. Just means those that cannot be arsed to pull their fingers out and choose a life of crime pay a lot less that hard working tax paying honest folk. Doesn’t really encourage hard work if you down the scale.
Big Doos

ALL speeding fines are BS
Omale

Not surprised by the comments thus far. I have noted a general disdain in society for those well off.

Issuing fines on such a basis brings words such as precedent, profiling etc. to mind (Imagine a criminal system based on such notions). One should be fined based on the nature of their acts rather than the weight of their wallet.
Valet Dabess

haha that’s my record, except i did it in a 60 zone, and i was in a yaris
Toorak Driver

I’m far wealthier than the rest of you boguns that post on here.

Speeding fines should be lower fur the likes of me, simply because being charged the same as a bogun in a EA Falcon on gas doesn’t hurt me a bit, so why even bother?

http://mymaties.com VDub Fan

They should fine you exactly the same they would a Yaris driver(shame). It would be unethical to fine a rich person more than the Yaris driver. They should fine the Yaris driver more for simply driving a Yaris.
When I saw the headlines of the article I thought shame. Poor old Koeniggsegegeegedgeac driver. He must’ve done 230MPH in a 80MPH zone or something. That is a bit harsh. Maybe traffic ovenders shouldn’t be alowed to defend themselves in court due to there misbehaviour. Thus the rich snob can have his licence removed and maybe next speed were its safe. On the damn race track
Us boys. We never learn before its to late.

Brad

Introducing this could cause speed cameras to target wealthy areas in an effort to raise more funds leaving speeding hotspots in less-wealthy areas underpoliced?

Do the Swiss lose their equivalent of demerit points as well as get fined?

http://mymaties.com VDub Fan

Truth Truth

Hjalle

I think that this is just silly, why just becuase you are wealthy should you pay more. You worked hard for your wealth and went to school etc. I feel the same with the topic about wealthier people should pay more tax. In my opinion that is just SCANDELOUS! Just becuase someone put effort into their education and got a high paying job doesnt mean that they should be punished for it by having to pay more tax or in this case a bigger speeding fine.

Tony

I went to school and have worked hard all my life and I am not wealthy. What is wealthy? In most areas of motoring the ordinary person is unable to aquire the eqiptment that a wealthy person can. This is a good idea if the law can determin who is wealthy and who is not.

G

They should set speed limits according to driver skill and vehicle performance.
Some dude going 10 over in a Yaris is not going to pull up or avoid obstacles as quick as say an M3 doing 10 over.

Why should those of us with better cars be penalised because they perform better.

Tony

do you think because you can afford a better car you can break the law and other people cant. Just because you have a M3 dont mean you can drive it, it only means you can afford it.

ElecEng

I think the reason why the Swiss fines the speed offenders according to their wealth is because the citizens in that country don’t pay taxes. And most of the wealthy people are not citizens. This is to discourage foreigners to just turn up and speed on their beautiful roads (as shown on topgear). I’m also sure that this is to raise governt income =P
You might ask how do they know how wealthy the offenders are if they’re not citizens? Well, I can say that the government can find any information nowadays, especially if you owned a red Testarossa.
ohreally

Isn’t it funny, inject a little class warfare and now people have become PRO speeding fines?
Hayzel

I think those hoons and drunk drivers should be subjected to more crippling fines. In the case of drink driving $500+ for first offense and $1000+ for second offense. In the case of hooning, $1000+ for first offense and $2000+ for second offense plus permanent seizure of their car. Wealth based fines are stupid, like seriously stupid….how many rich people do you think would break the law. 99 percent of law breakers are from much uneducated lower socioeconomic level..like indigenous people and white thrash who have never taken a shower or brush their teeth in their lives driving disgusting rubbish bin on wheels. If the fines are wealth based then those low-socio people would get away with 10 dollars of fine each time they offend that will subsequently let them to re-offend 100 times more in the future.

To tell you the truth rich people build a country…poor people drag a country to the s**thole they live in…controversial maybe but I’m sure you guys would agree if you think about it. The higher the fine the more effective of a deterrent it will be. I don;t know about you guys but I don’t want to live in a s**thole.
Lance

I think fining someone based on their wealth is a good idea. I don’t think that because they have worked hard, and got an education that that should be an excuse for them to break the traffic laws. When someone is wealthy, and they only have to pay $200-$500 for traffic fines, they aren’t going to really be deterred to offend again. While those who don’t have as much money that happened to be late for work one morning have to pay a ridiculously expensive traffic ticket. A traffic fine is meant to hurt someone financially so they think twice about committing the act again. It shouldn’t be that only less well off drivers are the ones who feel the pain. In regards to low socio economic areas and people paying only $10 for their traffic offense: if they only make $10 a week and they have to pay $10 for their ticket, I don’t think they’re gonna speed again.