A driver was clocked going 27 kilometers per hour (17 mph) over the speed limit on a street in the Swiss city of Lausanne, and now he's facing up to 90,000 Swiss francs (over $110,000) in fines as a result. But he can afford it.

Why the eye-popping penalty? Because the speedster, a repeat offender, is one of Switzerland's wealthiest people, and the Vaud region serves up fines based on factors like income, fortune or general family financial situation.

The Swiss are not alone. Germany, France, Austria and the Nordic countries all issue punishments based on a person's wealth. The recent fine isn't even a record in Switzerland. In 2010, a millionaire Ferrari driver got a ticket equal to about $290,000 for speeding in the eastern canton of St. Gallen.

Back then, the Swiss safety group Road Cross said rich drivers had been lightly punished until voters approved a penal law overhaul three years earlier that let judges hand down fines based on personal income and wealth for misdemeanors like speeding and drunk driving.

Under today's rules, an indigent person might spend a night in jail instead of a fine, while the wealthiest in the rich Alpine country could be on the hook for tens of thousands.

A court in the Swiss canton of Vaud recently ruled that the tycoon must pay 10,000 Swiss francs ($12,300) up front and could be forced to pay the rest—80,000 more—if he's caught for a similar roadway infraction over the next three years.

Switzerland's 24 Heures newspaper first reported the case and said the man, who was not identified, was a French citizen listed by the Swiss economic weekly Bilan among the 300 richest people in Switzerland—with a fortune in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The newspaper reported that he had already been caught for a similar speeding infraction eight years ago, and also paid 10,000 Swiss francs in penalty and faced another 60,000 if another infraction had taken place within the following two years.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.