Millionaire handed ticket for $216,900
Associated Press
HELSINKI, Finland -- Police gave a $216,900 speeding ticket to one of Finland's richest men under a system in which traffic fines are linked to an offender's income, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Millionaire Jussi Salonoja zoomed through a 25-mph zone in downtown Helsinki, and police handed him the hefty ticket, the Iltalehti tabloid reported. It didn't say what his speed was.
The fine was based on information police got directly from the inland revenue office, the newspaper said.
Salonoja, 27, could not be reached for comment.
Although it's the costliest ticket to date, it's not the first with a big price tag.
Two years ago, Anssi Vanjoki, then executive vice president of Nokia's mobile phones division, landed a $148,000 ticket after being caught going 45 mph in a 30-mph zone on a motorcycle.
It was later lowered to about $7,500 after he showed a court that his income had dropped.
Even as a repost, I still don't get it. What if you are not a local - any foreigner can speed, and then what are their fines based on? No way I'm sending them my tax return!
Speeding is a big deal in Germany from what I remember. It was based on income. Note: not too many speeding tickets there though [img]/images/graemlins/laughing.gif[/img]