Cars confiscated for insane / drunken driving

[hi-rev]

A new wave of penalties is being spread around.

In Switzerland, if you drive more than 100% over the speed limit, you can risk your car getting confiscated.
The law came in force in 2013, but is / was rarely used, but some high attention cases have come about of people getting their Ferraris and other luxury cars confiscated (probably not their first offence) or they had to pay the value of the car to get it back.

In Denmark, a similar law came into effect last year, where exceed speedlimits, or dangerous driving can get you your car confiscated.
It has already backfired in some cases, where for instance the employee of a delivery company got the company van confiscated and the company now has to sue the employee for a new one (but he might not have the money for one) and the company no longer has the van, and needs to spend time and money on lawsuits. The same has happened car leasing and rental companies, and of course parents who lent their kids their cars.

A similar law is now also coming into effect in Poland, where drunk driving can get you the car you are driving confiscated.

So it appears these laws are spreading.

I think these laws are where the penalty no longer fits the crime, and are inherently unjust.

They are no longer fair, as the punishment can warry according to the car that was driven (someone loses a 500 EUR shitbox, and someone else can lose a 100.000 EUR Ferrari, or 60.000 EUR VW, most likely.)
Secondly the punishment can also hit innocent. Cars and vans from companies can be confiscated, family cars can be confiscated etc. etc.
And Finally, at some point the punishment no longer fits the crime.

What is going on? Pretty soon, turning the ignition of a car will and you in prison for potentially being a mass murderer.

[Cold]

It sounds like the business case for the €500 sh1tbox driven pedal to the metal is strong, lol.

Given that many cars are owned by finance companies, there must be huge practical issues with it. I wonder if it would be legal never mind acceptable in a country like Ireland where property rights are very strong.

[charlie]

Didn't the Garda try to confiscate cars in Donegal a few years ago and had to return them. I can't remember the details.

[Notch000]

it pitched like everyone caught would be doing 300mph on the motorways, but would be a bad case if you were caught doing 60 in a 30kph urban area or 50kph thru road works, in Switzerland they have some random odd low limits on the mountains and villages centers

[fortytwo]

on a recent trip to canada i saw lots of signs, something like 50kph over posted speed limit was 10k fine, plus confiscation of car iirc

[avanzato]

on a recent trip to canada i saw lots of signs, something like 50kph over posted speed limit was 10k fine, plus confiscation of car iirc

Think they have laws specifically around "drag racing" which apply to that. Watching videos in america it seems like no one drives the limit, like it's almost bad form to be not over the limit by 10mph.

[Roarsbaby]

Think they have laws specifically around "drag racing" which apply to that. Watching videos in america it seems like no one drives the limit, like it's almost bad form to be not over the limit by 10mph.

Like the M1 and M50 (not even in the overtaking lane(s))? Asking for a friend

[Cold]

Someone told me that if hooning in alps, avoid Switzerland like the plague. I can't remember the reasons but perhaps confiscation of the car was one.

You can have your car confiscated here if it's not road legal but once you pay the fine and make it road legal it's obviously back on the road. And the fine is not the value of the car.

[kdevitt]

Someone told me that if hooning in alps, avoid Switzerland like the plague. I can't remember the reasons but perhaps confiscation of the car was one.

You can have your car confiscated here if it's not road legal but once you pay the fine and make it road legal it's obviously back on the road. And the fine is not the value of the car.

My old boss had a nearly new 840ci which he took with him to Switzerland when setting up an office there. Was out for dinner, had the local police call in to the restaurant and demand to know the owner of the Irish reg BMW outside. It was being towed away for not being on winter tyres. Significant fine iirc, and expense of changing tyres at the same time.

[mikerd4]

The Swiss use a penalty system that is based on your earnings afaik, so if you are caught speeding and are a millionaire you are going to pay a lot more than a pizza delivery driver.

[fortytwo]

Think they have laws specifically around "drag racing" which apply to that. Watching videos in america it seems like no one drives the limit, like it's almost bad form to be not over the limit by 10mph.

i tried to sit in groups of cars that were travelling at a steady (above the limit) pace