Gewessler’s proposed legislation would take the car away from extreme speeders and auction it off. The ÖAMTC Vorarlberg is skeptical that this is even possible. Speeders might be treated unequally depending on how much their car is worth. Because it does make a difference whether a car is worth 2,000 euros or 70,000 euros, says Jürgen Wagner from the ÖAMTC.
In addition, the ÖAMTC argues that administrative authorities are not legally allowed to confiscate any cars. Because if the car does not belong to the speeder, this is access to someone else’s property and that is unconstitutional.
The Vorarlberg police say that this measure makes sense in individual cases for repeat offenders. If, for example, the driver’s license is of no use and the speeder still gets behind the wheel, says police spokesman Horst Spitzhofer. But even for him, it is still regulated how to proceed if the car does not belong to the speeder.
Amendment to the law under review
A good two years ago, Minister of Transport Leonore Gewessler (Greens) announced that she wanted to confiscate cars from speeders. Now the plan is becoming concrete: An amendment is intended to bring regarding the “decay of the vehicle in the event of reckless and dangerous speeding”, the minister announced at a press conference on Monday in Vienna.
If you drive more than 60 km/h too fast in the built-up area or more than 70 km/h outside the built-up area, your vehicle will be temporarily confiscated by the police on the spot. After that, the competent district administration authority should decide within two weeks whether the vehicle should be forfeited – i.e. the car remains confiscated or is to be returned to the driver.
The vehicle is forfeited if the limit is exceeded extremely (i.e. 60 km/h in town, 70 km/h outside), especially in the case of repeat offenders, which means it can be taken away from them permanently. In extreme cases, the car can also be confiscated from first-time offenders if it appears necessary to prevent the offender from further speeding actions – if, for example, the speeds are exceeded by 80 or 90 km/h (back in town or outside), according to Gewessler. This includes, for example, a speeder driving at 220 km/h on the motorway.
The car will then be auctioned off – 70 percent of the proceeds will go to the road safety fund, the rest to the local authority. “Extreme speeding is life-threatening for all other people on the road,” said the transport minister. In the case of extreme transgressions, “nobody has full control over their vehicle on the road, then the speeder becomes a ruthless offender,” said the minister – more on this in “Extreme Speeders” car is taken away (ORF.at).
