Just because you're driving that expensive car...
... doesn't mean you own the road." ... Heh. I love that expression. I use it every time some idiot in a BMW thinks that he's somehow more important than the rest of us because he's got a flash car. That's why this bit from Unstrung about Nokia's Executive Vice President makes me gleefully happy. (All you Republicans better not read this, it might give you a heart attack at the thought of paying your fair share):
Don't stop us if you've already heard this one.
Finnish behemoth Nokia Corp has a record-holder in its midst, Unstrung discovered while out clubbing.
At a party organized for the launch of Nokia's new gaming device, we were told that Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice president, Nokia Mobile Phones, holds the Finnish record for the highest-ever fine for speeding. He smashed the speed limit on his Harley Davidson in October 2001, doing 75 km per hour (47 miles per hour) in a 50 km/h (31 mph) area.
We heard the fine was quite impressive, so when the man himself loomed into view, we cornered him and asked for the details. "I was fined �116,000," he admitted. (That's $125,000 at today's exchange rate.) Oh, how we laughed. And laughed. And laughed.
That, we proposed, must be a record. "Yes it is, but not one I am proud of," he added, before tiring of such triviality and speeding off (though not on his throbbing engine).
It seems that in Finland, speeding fines are a proportion of your income: Vanjoki was forced to pay 14 days' worth of earnings. The fine was based on 1999 income, apparently, which means Vanjoki must have netted a cool �3 million that year.
So he could afford it, then.
Okay, so he was driving a Harley not a BMW, but I still love it. Those Fins are pretty sharp. Must be all the hot-tubbing.
-Russ