Drunk driving may also result in confiscation of new vehicles

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The Supreme Court has ordered the car owned by a pensioner to be confiscated, after the man had been found guilty of repeated drunk driving. In its ruling issued on Thursday, the Supreme Court estimated that the loss of an almost new car worth EUR 19,000 is not an unreasonable punishment.
     
The man, born in 1945, was found guilty of aggravated drunk driving, after having been driving in an advanced state of intoxication - some 3.23 mg/ml - in December 2005. The level for aggravated drink driving in Finland is 1.2 mg/ml, and a drinking and driving offence is committed if the blood alcohol level is over 0.5 mg/ml.
      Previously he had already been convicted of 16 counts of aggravated drunk driving. In the winter of 2004, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison, and prior to committing the latest offence he had been released on probation.
      The defendant had bought a second-hand 2004 Renault Mégane just a couple of months before his latest offence.
      The Turku Court of Appeal reversed the ruling issued by the district court and ordered the man’s vehicle to be confiscated.
     
The pensioner subsequently appealed against the verdict to the Supreme Court, as he regarded the punishment as unreasonable, considering the value of the car and his own low income level.
      However, all things considered the Supreme Court did not regard the man’s arguments as sufficient.
     
The Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2005, stating that a convicted drunk driver’s car could be confiscated. However, in that case the car was more than 15 years old and worth only EUR 1,000.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Government proposes new measures against drunk driving (5.10.2007)
  Doubling in number of accidents caused by youth drunk driving (20.2.2007)
  Supreme Court: Cars belonging to drunk drivers may be confiscated (21.6.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat