He was only going 11 km/h over the speed limit, but with a rather rude hand gesture a driver in Kulmbach landed himself with a hefty fine. 

Man snapped sticking middle finger up to speed camera

Nobody would really describe themselves as a fan of speed cameras, but this one driver in Kulmbach, Bavaria, seems to have developed a real hatred for them. He was caught at the end of April 2020 driving down the B289 at 81 kilometres per hour, in a 70-limit zone. 

As far as driving offences go, this one’s not too bad - and would only have resulted in a small warning fine of 20 euros, according to the Highway Code. But with a single, rather costly, movement of his hand, the 26-year-old driver managed to increase his fine 75-fold. 

German driver fined 1.500 euros instead of 20

Just as the speed camera fired, the driver stuck up his middle finger. The traffic police in Bayreuth duly reported his offence to the Kulmbach district court, who laid down a fine of 1.500 euros and a one-month driving ban. The charge? Being insulting in road traffic (Beleidigung im Straßenverkehr), an offence which carries a fine of up to 4.000 euros. 

Image credit: Polizei Oberfranken