Road & Track
Switzerland’s similar reputation as a place where traffic infractions can rack up big penalties continues to grow. Just ask the Swiss lawyer who received a whopping ticket of more than $115,000 for following the vehicle in front of him too closely in his BMW in 2023, and has been fighting it since.
The 58-year-old man was on the A1 highway near Zurich behind the wheel of a BMW 540d sedan when he received the violation in March 2023, according to report from local news outlet Nau.ch. The man was allegedly observed tailing a leading vehicle at a distance of 26 to 40 feet at speeds up to 74 mph.
The lawyer denied this, and after being found guilty in Zofingen District Court, he appealed the violation to a higher court, according to Nau.ch. However, the higher court found no validity in his arguments that he was questioned without being read his rights and that calculating the following distance by video was inaccurate. The initial fine totaled out to around $116,000 (50 times a daily rate of $2,328) plus a secondary $16,000 fine; the lawyer’s appeal to the higher court did grant him a small break on the latter, bringing it down to around $11,000.
According to local news, the public prosecutor said that the lawyer’s driving behavior posed a serious threat to the safety of others on the road, and that there was a “high abstract risk of accidents” with such driving. Fines for traffic infractions such as tailgating and speeding are based on the accused party’s income in Switzerland, with courts able to set a penalty of between 30 and 3000 Swiss francs ($35.54–$3554 at current exchange rates). The court has argued the lawyer has an annual net income of around $2 million, hence the lofty fine.
Despite losing two appeals already, the lawyer can bring the issue to a federal court to continue his crusade. In hindsight, it probably would have been easier just to back off the person ahead.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a62081244/swiss-lawyer-tailgating-ticket-bmw/
