A driver faces up to $110,000 in fines for speeding on a Swiss street. But he can afford it
Why the eye-popping penalty? Because the speedster, a repeat offender, is one of Switzerland's wealthiest people, and the Vaud canton, or region, serves up fines based on factors like income, fortune or general family financial situation.
The Swiss are not alone. Germany, France, Austria and the Nordic countries all issue punishments based on a person's wealth. The recent fine isn't even a record in Switzerland. In 2010, a millionaire Ferrari driver got a ticket equal to about $290,000 for speeding in the eastern canton of St. Gallen.
Back then, the Swiss safety group Road Cross said rich drivers had been lightly punished until voters approved penal law overhaul three years earlier that let judges hand down fines based on personal income and wealth for misdemeanors like speeding and drunk driving.
Under today's rules, an indigent person might spend a night in jail instead of a fine, while the wealthiest in the rich Alpine country could be on the hook for tens of thousands.
A court in the Swiss canton of Vaud recently ruled that the tycoon must pay 10,000 Swiss francs ($12,300) up front and could be forced to pay the rest — 80,000 more — if he's caught for a similar roadway infraction over the next three years.
Switzerland's '24 Heures' newspaper first reported the case and said the man, who was not identified, was a French citizen listed by Swiss economic weekly Bilan among the 300 richest people in Switzerland — with a fortune in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The daily reported that an automated police radar photographed the offender driving at 77 kilometers per hour (48 mph) in a 50 kph (31 mph) zone on a Lausanne street. A quick-calculating prosecutor tallied the maximum fine the driver faced under the law, the report said.
Vincent Derouand, a spokesperson for the Vaud public prosecutors office, said the defendant didn't contest the decision, which was handed down in June for the infraction nearly a year ago — in August 2024.
The Vaud criminal code sets a maximum financial penalty based on the "personal and economic situation of the offender at the time of the ruling' — notably taking into account issues like income, fortune, lifestyle and family financial needs.
The newspaper reported that he had already been caught for a similar speeding infraction eight years ago, and also paid 10,000 Swiss francs in penalty and faced another 60,000 if another infraction had taken place within the following two years.
In Switzerland, penalties for speeding can even catch up with the cops: One officer was fined for racing at nearly twice the speed limit through Geneva streets back in 2016 while chasing thieves who had blown up a bank teller machine.
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A white Ferrari in the car park with a number plate reading "cash" (Image: Steffan Rhys) I loved walking around the garden centre at Daylesford Organic Farm Shop (Image: Steffan Rhys ) But on my visit, the first thing that struck me wasn't the food or the prices. It was the cars in the car park. I immediately spotted two Ferraris, several Porsches and too many Range Rovers to count. Right outside the front door was a white Ferrari with a number plate reading "cash". I parked my car in a distant corner of the car park and then did my best not to look too gobsmacked as I walked around. But this level of ostentatious wealth isn't surprising when you consider the area. The farm shop is around halfway between Chipping Norton and Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds, every inch of which belongs on a postcard. People who call this area home include the Beckhams, David and Samantha Cameron, Mike and Zara Tindall, Princess Anne, Kate Moss, Ellen DeGeneres, Simon Cowell, Richard E Grant and many, many more. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are among the many A-listers who call the Cotswolds home (Image:for RH) Zara and Mike Tindall also live there, as does Princess Anne (Image: Getty Images) David and Victoria Beckham also live in the Cotswolds (Image: Getty Images) Jeremy Clarkson has made it even more famous with his huge Amazon Prime Video hit Clarkson's Farm, on which you'll see sweeping drone-shot views of the sunlit countryside and farmland. I've been to his (very different) farm shop too, which you can read about here, as well as his sensational pub, which you can read about here. Its towns and villages, like Bourton-on-the-Water, Bibury (known as Britain's most beautiful village), Burford, Broadway and Stow-on-the-Wold are among the most beautiful you'll find anywhere. And the farm shop itself was founded in 2002 by Lady Carole Bamford, whose husband is JCB founder Lord Anthony Bamford. The couple are said to have a joint fortune of £9.45bn, making them comfortably one of the very wealthiest people in the UK. Earlier this summer, Lady Bamford was pictured alongside King Charles and Queen Camilla at Ascot Racecourse. The Bamfords own several prize-winning horses, including one bought for £1.4 million. Lady Carole Bamford (far left) with Ascot race-goers including King Charles and Camilla this summer (Image:) Carole Bamford started Daylesford with 'a handful of fields' and 'a desire to make a difference' (Image: PA) Walking around the shop and its outdoor garden centre, I enjoyed trying to figure out if I recognised some of the more glamorous customers (I didn't). But visitors this week would have had no trouble figuring out who the most famous customer was, given the convoy of black SUVs he arrived with. There were rows of black SUVs at the farm shop for Vance's visit (Image: SWNS) Nearby roads were closed off by police and locals were spoken to - they compared it to Men in Black (Image: Joseph Walshe / SWNS) Locals in the Cotswolds have likened the security lockdown around Vance's holiday to the Men in Black as roads, footpaths and village lanes were blocked. One said: "Stopped off at a farm did JD Vance. Security everywhere." Another said: "There were a few American SUVs and then loads of Mercedes. And a full police riot van and about three police motorbikes. "Because of this, there are loads of police everywhere at the moment - normally, you'd never see a police car around here." One local said: "You do seem to get a few political celebrities round here - Kamala Harris has been, David Cameron lives around here, and Boris Johnson often comes. I go to Daylesford Organic most days with my kids. It's not often you see a presidential motorcade here though!" There was a protest against Vance in the area this week (Image: AFP via Getty Images) Article continues below I'd go most days myself if I could and am certainly looking forward to my next visit. It would have been wonderful if Cotswolds farm shop rival Clarkson had decided to pop in at the same time to check out the competition. He has described Vance as "a bearded God-botherer who pretty much thinks that women who've been raped should be forced to have the resultant child". Clarkson, whose Diddly Squat Farm Shop is no more than a mile from the vice-president's fortress-like holiday mansion, also said: "I've searched for the right word to describe him and I think it's 't**t'." Oh well, I still hope Vance, who has also said the UK is a "truly Islamist" country, enjoyed his visit as much as I did. At least he could probably afford to buy a bit more than I could.
