At the end of last week, the Gheorgheni District Court gave the sentence in the first instance in the unusual case of a Romanian truck driver who committed several contraventions on a highway in Austria, surprising the police in Mozart's country, who applied an unprecedented fine.
The driver was fined on a highway from Austria Photo Shutterstock
Specifically, in October 2024, the respective Romanian driver was detected on a highway near the Austrian city of St. Poltten. And the police found that in total, the truck and its trailer exceeded almost 3.5 tonnes the maximum allowed weight, the two being effectively buried with goods, a case in Austria for the last 20 years.
Specifically, as the Austrian police say, the Romanian driver “He committed the following contraventions: the maximum authorized weight of the 2,950 kilograms was exceeded by 1,390 kilograms, the load exceeded by 2,000 kilograms the maximum allowable weight of 580 kilograms and also established that the trailer was the only braking system equipped with an inertial brake. Vehicles only if the maximum mass of the trailer does not exceed the maximum authorized mass of the tractor vehicle or 1.5 times the maximum mass of the tractor vehicle for the field vehicles in category M1 and neither the value established at the time of approval ”.
And the applied fine was an unprecedented one: 2,359.5 euros. The fine remained final as a result of a decision of a court in Austria in November 2024.
Only, although official addresses and all supporting documents were sent, the Romanian driver did not pay the fine. As a result, the Austrian authorities asked the Romanian courts to the recognition and execution of the fine, based on the European norms regarding the application of the principle of mutual recognition of pecuniary sanctions.
And the Gheorgheni Court established that the guilty driver must pay the fine in the national currency from the course of the sentence, respectively from October 11, 2024, when the exchange rate communicated by the NBR was 4.97 lei for 1 euro, forcing him to pay the amount of 11,738.98 RON representing the fine.
