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The Austrian government is cracking down on “speeders” on the roads in an effort to improve safety.
a New Law The law allows the government to confiscate and even sell the vehicles of anyone who drives more than 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) per hour over the speed limit.
Like the United States, Austria has recently seen an increase in traffic fatalities, but Austria’s roads are much safer than those in the United States. A much more dangerous road The United States has more road fatalities than any other developed country. The number of road fatalities in the United States has recently increased sharply, and in 2021, the number of road fatalities in the United States will be It hit a 16-year high, And in 2023, the death toll will be 13.6% increase More than 2019.
Vera Hofbauer, Austria’s Director General of Transport, said: He told Bloomberg News The new law has only just come into force so its impact is yet to be measured, but it is already being felt. He said the government impounded cars of speeders just hours after the new law came into force.
Austria has a road fatality rate of 4.1 per 100,000 people in 2022. Hofbauer argued that “drastic measures” needed to be taken to stop drivers “using their cars like weapons”.
Austrian authorities are not alone in cracking down on dangerous driving: many European countries have some of the strictest road safety regulations in the world. In some countries, speeding fines are calculated based on the driver’s income, meaning the wealthier the driver, the higher the fine.
Since 2007, speeding fines in Switzerland have been calculated based on both income and assets. Voters decided to crack down on wealthy speeders.One of the drivers Fines of over $1 million In 2010, he was arrested for driving a Mercedes sports car at approximately 180 mph in a 75 mph speed zone.
Last year in Finland, a millionaire He will be fined 121,000 euros. He was fined about $130,000 for going about 18 miles per hour over a 50 kilometre (31 mph) speed limit zone.
The European Union is also cracking down: In 2022, the European Commission made it mandatory for all new cars from 2024 to be equipped with the following technologies: Alert drivers when they exceed the speed limitThe measure is predicted to reduce road fatalities by 20%.
The law seems to be working: the countries with the strictest road rules have the safest roads. Switzerland has about 2.6 traffic fatalities per 100,000 people The number of deaths each year is among the lowest in the world. Falling faster than the EU average Over the past decade, the U.S. road fatality rate 12.8 per 100,000 people 2022.
“We may have to try measures that sound strange at first, and they may raise new legal questions that need to be answered,” Hofbauer told Bloomberg. “But I think we should try everything we can to reduce accidents.”