I wouldn't feel too sorry for the guy. Apparently that was equivalent to 14 days' income, but he said they'd used the wrong year's income to calculate the fine and he got it reduced to $5,245 on appeal. I can't find a definitive answer about what happens to someone with no income, although I did find that fixed fines were used for offenders just over the speed limit. The minimum of these is about $60, so I guess they have to pay that. I found another case from January last year in Switzerland where a repeat speeding offender was caught driving his Ferrari at 85 mph through a village. They must have a similar system to Finland because they assessed his overall wealth ($22.7m) and fined his $290,000. I can't find any reference to an appeal, so I guess he had to pay. This may be beaten by another Swiss case from August last year. A Swedish driver was caught doing 290 km/h (180 mph) in his new Mercedes SLS AMG. He'd avoided a couple of speed cameras by driving too fast for them to photograph him before being pulled over by police with a radar gun. His car was impounded, and he could have to pay 300 days' impound fees, which works out at about $1,000,000 - now that would put a smile on Boss's face . I remember from old episodes of Top Gear and Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld that Switzerland isn't exactly the motorist's friend. From Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld: "I was stopped by the police who were concerned that the V8 engine in my TVR, and especially its Matrix Churchill supergun exhaust system, was too loud. Strange that at no point in the conversation did they say anything about the loaded Kalashnikov [rifle] on the passenger seat." Remember that in the UK, gun ownership is illegal for most people, and tightly controlled for the rest, so that is the point that is being made - loud exhaust vs loaded gun, which is more dangerous?. Other strange Swiss motoring laws include not being allowed to wash your car on a Sunday, and having to carry a spare pair of glasses in your car if you need them for driving.