Austrian road traffic authorities are obliged to temporarily impound a vehicle if the driver exceeds the maximum permitted speed on the roadside by more than 60 km/h or outside the roadside by more than 70 km/h.
If the driver has already been prosecuted for such offences within the last four years, the vehicle must be impounded. The same applies if the driver has exceeded the maximum permitted speed in a neighbourhood area by more than 80 km/h or outside a neighbourhood area by more than 90 km/h.
Confiscation of the car may be provided in addition to the fine if it proves necessary to deter the offender from further such offences. In this case, the vehicle will be sold at auction without compensation.
Since 2021, Austria has had stricter penalties for speeding offences. At that time, fines were increased to 5000 euros and the period of driving licence deprivation was doubled.
Car confiscation is part of a second package of measures on the road to greater road safety. The country has set a target of halving the number of road deaths by 2030.
"There is a rate at which the car becomes a weapon. We are now putting an end to this and ensuring that their murder weapon is immediately and permanently taken out of the hands of criminals in the future," Austrian Climate Protection Minister Leonora Gewessler said.
Source: TZ
