Saturday, January 9, 2010
Highest speeding fine - Ferrari Testarossa
driver sets world record
ST. GALLEN, Switzerland -- A Swiss cantonal
court has slapped a wealthy Ferrari driver with a $290,000
speeding fine - which sets the new world record for the Highest
speeding fine - after the motorist reportedly drove
through a village in a candy red Ferrari Testarossa at 137
km/h, which was 57 km/h over the speed limit.
Judges
at the cantonal court in St. Gallen, in eastern Switzerland,
said they based the fine on the speeder's estimated wealth
of over $20 million US and the fact he was a repeat offender.
(enlarge
photo)
''The accused ignored elementary traffic rules
with a powerful vehicle out of a pure desire for speed,''
the court said in its judgment.
In 2002, Swiss voters approved replacing prison
terms for some offences, including speeding, with fines based
on income, reports Wired.
The penalty is twice Switzerland's previous record
speeding fine and more than the cost of the red Ferrari Testarossa
he was driving.
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.
Prior to breaking the 30mph limit he had been
caught speeding at 85mph on country roads, where the limit
is 50.
Court clerk Heidi Baumann-Becker said the unidentified
driver can appeal the decision, handed down in November, to
the Swiss Supreme Court. There is no word on whether the motorist
plans to appeal.
The Swiss daily Blick reported that
the judges also ruled that he was a ''roadhog''. The newspaper
noted that he had some fast friends on his Facebook page,
including the racing drivers Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen.
The defendant had initially refused to appear
before the court, claiming that his status as a diplomat from
Guinea-Bissau gave him immunity. However, the court refused
to recognise his status - nor his claims that his diplomatic
number plates must have fallen off.
The previous Guinness world record for the Highest
speeding fine
was 111,000 francs, set by a Porsche driver in Zurich in 2008,
also imposed after a string of previous traffic offences.
Related world records: Transport
world records
Saturday,
January 9, 2010
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