2024-03-24 20:02:04
Published24. March 2024, 9:02 p.m
BMW confiscated: “My life is destroyed” – now the St. Gallen speedster speaks
The 36-year-old speeder from the canton of St. Gallen, whose BMW was confiscated in Austria, feels he has been treated unfairly. He drove so fast because of a death.
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On Wednesday evening, the Austrian police stopped a speeder from Switzerland who was traveling at 230 km/h and confiscated his BMW.
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Thanks to a change in the law, the Austrian authorities can confiscate and auction a car in the event of excessive speeding.
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In an interview with 20 Minutes, the speeder from the canton of St. Gallen says that he was driving so fast because of a death in the family.
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Because he was threatened with debts and loss of work, his life was now completely turned upside down.
The Serb, who lives in the canton of St. Gallen and had to hand in his BMW in Austria, said he drove so quickly on the way to Vienna because of a death in his family. “I didn’t realize I was traveling so fast. “I was completely blown away because of the death,” says the 36-year-old in an interview with 20 Minutes.
He was stopped by the police on Wednesday evening at 230 km/h on the Westautobahn towards Vienna. Minus the measurement tolerance, he exceeded the speed limit by 93 km/h. In addition to the immediate revocation of his driver’s license and a hefty fine, the authorities also confiscated his BMW 530i. A new law that came into force at the beginning of March allows the Austrian authorities to confiscate the car if it exceeds 90 km/h and then auction it off.
This is how the driver describes the events
“On Tuesday I found out that my cousin had died in Vienna,”* says the 36-year-old, who works as a chauffeur in Switzerland. «I grew up with him. He was like a brother to me.”
He wanted to visit his relatives in Vienna as quickly as possible – together with his wife, his brother and his sister-in-law. “My employer didn’t let me leave early because I still had to deliver frozen products the next morning.” During his delivery tour at four in the morning, he hurried particularly hard so that he could leave for Vienna at midday. But because he then had to wait for his brother, they didn’t set off until 2 p.m. «All of this completely destroyed me. I just wanted to get to Vienna as quickly as possible and didn’t even look at the speedometer anymore.” After the police stopped them at a motorway rest area and took away the BMW, they had to stay there for two hours until an acquaintance from Vienna could pick them up. “When I found out the next day that I couldn’t get the BMW back, I was shocked.”
“My life is destroyed”
As the father of three children goes on to say, the confiscated BMW does not belong to him. “I pointed this out to the police, but they didn’t believe me.” He rented the BMW from a private person in Switzerland. “The owner of the BMW will definitely charge me for the car. But how am I supposed to raise 40,000 francs? This is driving me to ruin.” The 36-year-old also fears that he will lose his job as a chauffeur because of the incident. «If the boss fires me, I’ll have nothing left. Hopefully I can at least continue working in the warehouse.”
That’s why he had sleepless nights during his stay in Vienna. “My life is completely turned upside down.” On Sunday he traveled home from Vienna by train.
“I think this is an unfair punishment”
“I know that I made a mistake,” says the St. Gallen native. In Switzerland he always drives on cruise control and adheres to the speed limits. “I am aware that your car can be confiscated in Switzerland. But how am I supposed to know that there is suddenly a new law in Austria?” If this happened again, he could understand why a driver’s car would be confiscated, but in his opinion one shouldn’t be so strict the first time. “I also think it’s unfair because someone with a more expensive car gets a harsher punishment.”
The 36-year-old Serb is now hoping that the matter with the ownership of the BMW can be clarified and that he can get the car back after all.
*20 Minutes cannot verify whether there was actually a death in his family.
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