Stricter rules

Hunting down extreme speeders: initial results now available

Extreme speeders: police confiscated 21 cars in the first few weeks, such as this BMW 530i.

(Bild: TEAM FOTOKERSCHI / KERSCHBAUMMAYR, Krone KREATIV)

There was much debate in the run-up to the new Section 99a of the Road Traffic Act, which has been in force since March 1: this enables the authorities to temporarily confiscate vehicles from extreme speeders. An initial interim assessment by the Ministry of the Interior is now available ...

According to this, no fewer than 21 cars were confiscated by federal police officers in the first month. The leader in "lead feet" is Lower Austria, where seven cars were confiscated - only the federal state of Salzburg still has a clean record.

Speeding through the 30 km/h zone at 95 km/h
One of the first speeders to feel the effects of the amended law was a 39-year-old Hungarian driver from the district of Leoben. He had been driving at 95 km/h through the 30 km/h limit in the Eisenerz district. The police took his license and car from him - and wrote him up on top of that.

Extreme speeding: police confiscated 21 cars in the first few weeks, such as this BMW 530i.

(Bild: TEAM FOTOKERSCHI / KERSCHBAUMMAYR, Krone KREATIV)

Speeding driver had his daughter (7) in the back seat
At the beginning of March, police in Upper Austria caught a 31-year-old driver in a reckless overtaking maneuver. The man was clocked at 157 km/h. Particularly tragic: his seven-year-old daughter was sitting in the back seat without a suitable booster seat. The driver's license was confiscated, but he was allowed to keep his car.

Flashed at 230 km/h in a luxury BMW
A 36-year-old Serbian living in Switzerland was flashed at 230 km/h on the Westautobahn in mid-March and his BMW was confiscated thanks to the new law. The man describes the personal reason for his speeding in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper. 

The new regulation

Since March 1, stricter rules have applied to extreme speeders in Austria: If they exceed the speed limit by at least 80 km/h in urban areas and by at least 90 km/h outside urban areas, their vehicle will be confiscated by the authorities. For drivers with relevant previous convictions, the speed limits are reduced to 60 and 70 km/h respectively. In the last resort, the car can be auctioned off.

Often it is not auctioned off
However, just because the police temporarily separate a driver from their car does not mean that it will actually be auctioned off. Even in the initial phase, it became clear that in most cases the confiscation was lifted again. This was partly because the car owner and driver were not the same person or the vehicle was leased.

Lawyer criticizes loopholes
A decision must be made within 14 days as to whether the speeding driver is also the owner of the car. And this is where things get curious, says Klagenfurt lawyer Michael Sommer: "The legislator has obviously not considered that the driver is not always the direct owner, especially in the case of fast and expensive cars. And then the sanction, which is based purely on private ownership, does not apply."