On a federal highway

Car confiscated: 19-year-old driving an Audi at 200 km/h

This silver Audi A4 in the saloon version is being kept in Rohrbach for the time being.

(Bild: Horst Einöder/Flashpictures)

Because he wanted to "quickly pick up" an acquaintance, a 19-year-old from the Hausruckviertel region sped along the B127 at almost 200 km/h. The police confiscated his Audi under the new speeding law. It is the second car confiscation in Upper Austria.

Three young occupants - two men, one woman - were sitting in the silver Audi A4 saloon version on Friday evening, with a 19-year-old Kosovar from the Hausruckviertel region at the wheel. The car was clocked at 199 km/h on the B127 near the Neufeldner bridge in Kleinzell. "That leaves 193 km/h net, because you have to deduct three percent," explains Klaus Scherleitner, head of the Upper Austrian provincial traffic department.

According to the new speeding law, this means that the car is gone and will be temporarily confiscated.

The ball is in the authorities' court
As is well known, a new regulation for extreme speeders has been in force since March 1: if they exceed the speed limit by at least 80 km/h in the local area or by at least 90 km/h outside the city, the vehicle will be confiscated by the authorities.

The 19-year-old was 93 km/h over the speed limit, minus the measurement tolerance, and therefore fell under the new, stricter law. "That doesn't happen, you have to do it consciously," says Scherleitner. The young lead-footer stated that he wanted to "quickly pick up" a friend. "The driver's license has been revoked and a report has been made to the Rohrbach district authority, which is now in charge of the proceedings," explains the head of the provincial traffic department. The authorities must now clarify whether the 19-year-old driver is also the owner of the car. If this is the case, the Audi could be put up for auction in an extreme case.

First case hit speeding BMW
This is the second car seizure in Upper Austria. In March, as reported, the BMW of a 36-year-old man was temporarily impounded for speeding at 223 km/h on the Westautobahn. However, his luxury car was ultimately not auctioned off because it was only on loan.