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Europe slapping rich with massive traffic fines
European countries are increasingly pegging speeding fines to income as a way to punish wealthy scofflaws who would otherwise ignore tickets.

Advocates say a $290,000 (euro203,180.83) speeding ticket slapped on a millionaire Ferrari driver in Switzerland was a fair and well-deserved example of the trend.

Germany, France, Austria and the Nordic countries also issue punishments based on a person's wealth. In Germany the maximum fine can be as much as $16 million compared to only $1 million in Switzerland. Only Finland regularly hands out similarly hefty fine to speeding drivers, with the current record believed to be a euro170,000 (then about $190,000) ticket in 2004....

...In the latest Swiss case, the court took into account the man's history of similar offenses, the high speed with which he drove through a small village (60 miles — or 97 kilometers — an hour, nearly twice the 30 mph (50 kph limit), and his estimated personal wealth of over $20 million....