Nearly 420km/h is too fast even on autobahn

A Czech millionaire lured by the lack of speed limits on German motorways is in trouble with the police after apparently reaching almost high speeds during an early morning drive.

Police are investigating after a Czech millionaire was seen driving at 417 kilometres per hour on an motorway in Germany. Picture: Youtube

A Czech millionaire lured by the lack of speed limits on German motorways is in trouble with the police after apparently reaching almost 420km/h during an early morning drive.

The prosecutor’s office in Stendal said it was investigating the exploit which took place last year and came to public attention in January when the driver, Radim Passer, 58, a property magnate, posted a video of it on YouTube.

He is accused of staging an ­illegal “one-car race” in his ­Bugatti Chiron supercar that prosecutors said endangered ­others. Reports said that he may face two years in prison or a fine.

Mr Passer filmed the drive on a three-lane stretch of the A2 ­motorway between Berlin and Hanover in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The clip shows him moving into the fast lane once his speedometer ­appears to hit 300km/h, and overtaking other vehicles in a blur. He slows down after reaching 417km/h and is seen cheering. “Even if there’s no speed limit on that stretch, it is a violation of traffic regulations and reckless,” Arndt Kempgens, a specialist traffic lawyer, told Bild.

In written comments beneath the video, Mr Passer said the drive took place at 4.50am on a Sunday and he had made a practice run on the motorway.

Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, a car industry expert, said that travelling at above 400km/h was highly dangerous. “The higher the speed, the longer the braking distance and it increases exponentially … Do we want to allow multimillionaires to have their fun on public roads, which can ­endanger human lives?”

The absence of a speed limit on some autobahns has been likened to attachment to gun ownership in the US. The Greens included a speed limit in their election manifesto last year but were forced to drop the demand in coalition talks.

The Times