Acceptance possible

Extreme speeders lose their cars from today

Stefan Schnöll and Florian Kreibich are calling for further steps to be taken against speeding.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

Thanks to the efforts of the mother of a Salzburg accident victim, the pace is being tightened. The Salzburg initiative has had an impact at federal level.

Almost four years after the terrible accident, Sabine Koch-Peterbauer's campaign against speeders is once again bearing fruit. One such driver had her daughter Kathi on his conscience. She died because he crashed into oncoming traffic and her car near Eugendorf on April 10, 2020. Kathi's mother has stood by the country ever since to fight speeding. There have already been some tightening of the rules since then thanks to the Salzburg initiative.

Sabine Koch-Peterbauer's daughter died because of a speeding driver.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

Caught directly - car gone for 14 days
From today, cars can be confiscated in Austria: Immediately for 14 days for an offense of 60 km/h (local area) or 70 km/h (outside) if the driver is caught directly.

For a permanent confiscation including auction, the requirement is an infringement of 80 km/h in the local area and 90 km/h outside. Each 10 km/h less applies if the driver has already had to surrender their license in the last four years. Speeding vehicles end up at four locations in Bergheim, St. Johann, Zell am See and Tamsweg.

"Speeding scene was lured to Salzburg"
The federal government estimates 450 confiscations per year. "So far, the speeding and tuning scene has been lured to us," explains ÖVP Transport Minister Stefan Schnöll. Florian Kreibich, traffic officer in the city of Salzburg, believes that taking away offenders' "tools of the trade" helps the most.

One drawback is that appeals can prolong proceedings. The ÖVP is calling for the federal government to enshrine illegal racing in the penal code and a register for administrative penalties in order to track down multiple speeders and punish them more severely.