Driver fined over $195,000 for speeding in Finland

A driver has been fined €121,000 (A$195,796) for speeding in Finland where infringements are calculated based on the offender's personal income.

Anders Wiklof was caught driving 82km/h in a 50km/h zone on Saturday and as well as the hefty fine, has had his license suspended for 10 days.

Wiklof told Nya Aaland, the main newspaper for the Aaland Islands, an autonomous region of Finland in the Baltic Sea where the incident occurred that "I really regret the matter". Wiklof said that he knew he was going from a 70km/h to a 50km/h zone and had been slowing down, but that evidently he had not slowed down fast enough.

It's not the first time Wiklof has had to pay up big for speeding around Finland. In 2013, Wiklof was fined around $152,000 and again in 2018 had to pay over $102,000 for speeding.

Since 1920, Finland has had a day-fine system for certain offenses, starting with speeding over 20km/h. The fine is calculated using several criteria including the offender's net daily salary and the number of dependent children they have.

Wiklof is the chairman of holding Wiklof Holding's whose subsidiaries include logistics, real estate, tourism, and helicopter services. The 76-year-old is thought to be Aaland's richest resident and is nicknamed "the king".

Wiklof isn't the only millionaire who has found themself with a big Finish speeding fine. Reima Kuisla was fined the equivalent of A$76,167 in 2015 for exceeding an 80km/h speed limit by 23km/h.

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