Man fined €121,000 (£104,000) for driving 32 kilometres over speed limit

Keeping down the cost of motoring these days isn’t easy, however, one man found to his cost that it’s also a good idea to pay attention to the road signs.

On Saturday, June 3, Anders Wiklöf was caught speeding in the Aland islands, Finland, and was fined a blood-curdling €121,000, writes Nya Aland.

Speeding fines in Finland are calculated based on the driver’s income, and 76-year-old Anders Wiklöf is one of the wealthiest men in Finland, hence the whopping €121,000 (£104,000) penalty.

A stoic Wiklöf commented: ‘I really regret the matter and hope that the money is at least used for health care through the state treasury.’

He was clocked at 82 kilometres per hour in a 50 kph zone on Saturday. It appears that the speed limit had just changed from 70 kilometres to 50 kilometres per hour when the police speed trap was sprung: ‘I had just started to slow down, but I guess I wasn’t going [slow] enough and that’s what happened,’ said Mr Wiklöf.

Mr Wiklöf explained that he and some friends had been out looking at Åland: ‘When I went back to town. . . it suddenly became fifty and I slowed down, you shouldn’t panic brake. But then the blue lights came after me.’

This is not the first time he’s had to stump up a hefty wad of cash for speeding. In 2018, he was caught at a checkpoint on his way to the Önningeby Museum to award an art prize. The fine was €63,680, and in 2013 he received a similar €95,000 speeding fine.

However, on this occasion, the excessive speed was such, that authorities have also confiscated his driving licence for ten days.

The millionaire went on to say: ‘But I’ve heard that they’re going to [cut back] one and a half billion on healthcare in Finland, so I hope that the money can fill some gaps there. Ideally, I would like it to be earmarked for that purpose.’