Riding an e-scooter with a blood alcohol level of 1.3 per mille – in Germany (from 1.1 per mille) this is a criminal offense that is punished with three points in Flensburg, at least nine months’ driver’s license suspension and a fine.
And so it is not surprising that the 33-year-old man, who was pulled off the road by the police in November last year in Hamburg's trendy Berg district with the same level of alcohol on the e-scooter, received the following penalty order from the public prosecutor's office: ten months' driver's license suspension , three points – and a fine of 1500 euros.
But it shouldn't stop there.
Simon Husgen
Editor on duty at FAZ.NET.
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Because the man lodged an objection, the matter went before the district court of Hamburg.
At the end of the process, the penalty is: ten months driver's license suspension, three points - and a fine of 80,000 euros.
Because the accused is not just any 33-year-old, but Tarek Müller, founder of the online fashion retailer About You and multimillionaire.
But why did the fine increase so drastically after the trial?
Since the public prosecutor's office apparently did not know Tarek Müller, they simply estimated the alcohol sinner's income - and set 30 daily rates of 50 euros as a fine.
When it became clear to the district court in the process that Müller's monthly net income was well above the estimated 1500 euros - a daily rate is one-thirtieth of the monthly net salary, it adjusted the amount according to the actual income: the 50 euros became around 2670 euros per daily rate.
"A penalty must be noticeable," emphasized the responsible judge, according to NDR.
Defendants can still withdraw an objection during the trial, but the public prosecutor's office must agree to this.
After all: In August, Müller still has at least one inexpensive alternative for getting around with the 9-euro ticket.