This type of speeding fine speeding should be applied worldwide
If you’re rich and in Finland, think twice before you speed.
WOW. Talk about driving down the wrong road that day.
In Finland, businessman Reima Kuisla has copped a mammoth $77,264 (€54,000) for going 103km/hr in an 80km/hr zone.
There’s no doubt that the penalty was rather large by any speeding fines standard, and it’s not as if Mr Kuisla had some ridiculous amount of outstanding fines.
Rather, Finland has an interesting policy where traffic fines aren’t a set amount. They’re based on how much money you earned. The idea is that even rich people will be stung by speeding fines, rather than brush off a $400 fine when your net worth is in the millions.
Mr Kuisla, the BBC reported, earned $9.28 million (€6.5 million) according to 2013 tax return. Which puts the fine at about 0.80 per cent of his income.
Mr Kuisla, as you may guess, is a tad annoyed at the exorbitant fine levelled at him. He wrote on his Facebook page: “Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have believed that I would seriously consider moving abroad. Finland is impossible to live in for certain kinds of people who have high incomes and wealth.”
As the BBC pointed out, some of the less well off Finns aren’t taking his outrage well. They’ve responded on social media with comments such as “if you follow the rules, you won’t have to pay the fines” and “small fines won’t deter the rich”.
Mr Kuisla is hardly the first rich Finn it’s happened to. In 2002, a Nokia bigwig on a €14 million salary had to pay €116,000 for speeding on his motorbike.
If you’re rich and in Finland, think twice before you speed.
WOW. Talk about driving down the wrong road that day.
In Finland, businessman Reima Kuisla has copped a mammoth $77,264 (€54,000) for going 103km/hr in an 80km/hr zone.
There’s no doubt that the penalty was rather large by any speeding fines standard, and it’s not as if Mr Kuisla had some ridiculous amount of outstanding fines.
Rather, Finland has an interesting policy where traffic fines aren’t a set amount. They’re based on how much money you earned. The idea is that even rich people will be stung by speeding fines, rather than brush off a $400 fine when your net worth is in the millions.
Mr Kuisla, the BBC reported, earned $9.28 million (€6.5 million) according to 2013 tax return. Which puts the fine at about 0.80 per cent of his income.
Mr Kuisla, as you may guess, is a tad annoyed at the exorbitant fine levelled at him. He wrote on his Facebook page: “Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have believed that I would seriously consider moving abroad. Finland is impossible to live in for certain kinds of people who have high incomes and wealth.”
As the BBC pointed out, some of the less well off Finns aren’t taking his outrage well. They’ve responded on social media with comments such as “if you follow the rules, you won’t have to pay the fines” and “small fines won’t deter the rich”.
Mr Kuisla is hardly the first rich Finn it’s happened to. In 2002, a Nokia bigwig on a €14 million salary had to pay €116,000 for speeding on his motorbike.
