The Austrian parliament recently approved legislation that would enable police to seize the vehicles of those who are caught exceeding the speed limit.
A bill that requires temporary automobile confiscation for drivers who go over the posted speed limit by more than 60 kph (37 mph) in developed areas or 70 kph (43 mph) outside of town limits was approved by lawmakers on Wednesday.
Repeat offenders risk having their cars permanently seized and sold at auction.
After a first infraction, motorists who go over the posted speed limit by more than 80 kph (50 mph) in populated areas or 90 kph (56 mph) in unincorporated areas risk having their vehicles impounded permanently.
The law is anticipated to go into effect in March 2024.
The Austrian minister for the environment and transportation, Leonore Gewessler, stated last month that “there is a speed above which the car becomes a weapon.
“We are now ending this,” she continued, “and making sure that the perpetrators have the weapon permanently removed from their possession.
The center-left opposition Social Democrats as well as members of the ruling coalition between the conservative Austrian People’s Party and Gewessler’s environmentalist Greens supported the measure’s approval on Wednesday, according to the Austria Press Agency.
The initiative was rejected by two additional opposition parties, which cited legal objections and questioned its viability.
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