Switzerland’s no-nonsense approach to breaking road rules has hit the hip pocket of one local millionaire particularly hard.
Nau reports a 58-year-old lawyer was tailgating another car in his BMW 5 Series while on the A1 motorway near Zurich in March 2023, with police alleging the man was eight to 12 metres away from the vehicle in front while travelling at between 110 to 120km/h.
At 110km/h, a vehicle covers more than 30 metres per second, providing little time for the car behind to react when it’s within such a close distance.
Rather than accept responsibility, the man contested the charge, though the Zofingen District Court found him guilty of tailgating, and subsequently fined the man a daily rate of 1970 francs ($3481) 50 times – resulting in a total fine of 98,500 francs ($174,050).
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The huge fine was issued due to Switzerland’s unique laws which tie certain financial penalties to a person’s income rather than using a fixed rate.
According to Nau, the man’s annual income is almost 1.7 million francs ($3 million), meaning his fine was towards the upper end of the scale.
While the man subsequently appealed the District Court’s verdict in the High Court – claiming the distance analysis of his alleged tailgating was incorrect and that the vehicle in front wasn’t going to brake – the ruling was upheld.
However, the High Court did give him some reprieve, reducing his original administrative fine fee from 15,000 francs ($26,510) to 10,000 francs ($17,670), though this doesn’t include a legal fee of 5000 francs ($8835).
In total, the man is facing a total fine of 113,500 francs ($200,555) including fees – significantly more than the circa-$200 to $500 penalties which can apply in Australia.
