Finland, Home of the $103,000 Speeding Ticket

[packman]

?1430145591

"Reima Kuisla, a Finnish businessman, was recently caught going 65 miles per hour in a 50 zone in his home country—an offense that would typically come with a fine of a couple hundred dollars, at most, in the U.S. But after Finnish police pulled Kuisla over, they pinged a federal taxpayer database to determine his income, consulted their handbook, and arrived at the amount that he was required to pay: €54,000.

The fine was so extreme because in Finland, some traffic fines, as well as fines for shoplifting and violating securities-exchange laws, are assessed based on earnings—and Kuisla's declared income was €6.5 million per year. Exorbitant fines like this are infrequent, but not unheard of: In 2002, a Nokia executive was fined the equivalent of $103,000 for going 45 in a 30 zone on his motorcycle, and the NHL player Teemu Selanne incurred a $39,000 fine two years earlier. "

More of the Finnish system (also used in some other European countries and even used sparingly in the U.S.) - which basically is that the court determines how much one makes in a day and divides that by two. Example $100 a day - fine $50 and the more severe the crime they add a day multiplier. 10 miles over - maybe just the $50, 20 miles over maybe a day multiplier of 2 = $100, 50 miles over a multiplier of 10, etc.

More at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/03/finland-home-of-the-103000-speeding-ticket/387484/

[MattP]

1. I like the more you make the more you pay but 103,000 is a bit much unless your a billionaire

I bet Trump wouldn't be bragging how rich he was

[packman]

2. The article cites the example of Steve Jobs (former Apple billionaire)

who double parked and drove around without license plates. This guy should have been slapped with some big buck fines but probably laughed at each ticket he got.

[scscholar]

3. This is so far...

but of course the Republicans stand against fairness.

[jberryhill]

4. It takes a lot of fins to finish the Finn fines

[malaise]

5. Hehehehehehe

[Initech]

6. Note to self: don't speed in Finland!