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Finland, Land of the $200K Speeding Ticket

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 20, 2009 2:59 PM CDT

(Newser) – If you think that pricey speeding ticket is unfair, just look at Finland, where fines are based on income. Mental Floss takes a look at five doozies:

  • In 2002, a Nokia exec on a Harley got hit with a whopping $103,600 fine for cruising at 47mph in a 31mph zone.
  • A young dot-com entrepreneur, Jaako Rytsola, had to shell out $71,400 for driving his Beamer 18mph over the limit.

  • A newly wealthy man got fined $14,500 for speeding and argued it down to $9,000; but when the judge discovered he'd paid only $750 a pop for previous infractions, he turned punitive and tacked on another $38,000.
  • Same Jaako Rytsola, same BMW, same year, and other $44,100 ticket, bringing the year's fines to $115,500.
  • A sausage heir going 50 in a 25mph zone holds the record for steepest fine, at $204,000.

Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland.
Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland.   (AP Photo)
A traffic stop.
A traffic stop.   (Flickr)
Cars leave an isolated manor house in Vantaa, outside Helsinki.
Cars leave an isolated manor house in Vantaa, outside Helsinki.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 7 comments
Big_D
Jan 8, 2010 1:33 AM CST
riffran....Urinating in public can get you a hell of a lot more than you bargain for, in Oklahoma and many other states you are charged with a sex crime and you must file as a sex offender for the rest of your life. It also limits where you can live and what jobs that you can have. All that for taking a pee at the side of the road.
paul123
Jun 21, 2009 8:38 AM CDT
Oh, but we live in the country where class envy rules.....we must hurt the rich at all costs.
gropius
Jun 21, 2009 8:34 AM CDT
@ClearSight Doesn't pappy Limbaugh sprinkle a liberal (sorry) amount of anal rape throughout his material? Let's face it -- wishing someone gets stuff forcefully put in their butt is going to have the desired effect no matter what side of the aisle you're on.

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