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Bugatti Chiron driver who hit 257mph on public roads avoids prosecution

by Nik Berg
25 April 2022 1 min read
Bugatti Chiron driver who hit 257mph on public roads avoids prosecution

The Czech millionaire who filmed himself driving at 257 mph in his Bugatti Chiron on the German autobahn has escaped all charges.

Although there is no speed limit on the stretch of road where Radim Passer put his foot down, authorities will still pinch drivers for reckless driving, so local prosecutors in Stendal studied footage of his high-speed run closely.

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He summoned all 1,479bhp of the quad-turbo, 8-litre W16 Chiron to power it to 257mph, just shy of its electronically limited top speed of 261mph.

Passer stated at the time of the attempt that “Safety was a priority, so the circumstances had to be safe to go” and that he chose a specific six-mile section of the autobahn between Berlin and Hanover with “visibility along the whole stretch”. Having reviewed the footage prosecutors told the dpa news agency that they agreed Passer had not endangered anyone and would not face charges.

Rare as it is to see a Bugatti being driven as designed, we hope this doesn’t serve as an open invitation for speed fiends to go all-out on the autobahn. Passer planned his run to perfection and took safety seriously, unlike other YouTubers we could mention. Yet without wishing to state the obvious, it would only take a mechanical failure or a tyre defect for things to turn bad in an instant. Just ask Richard Hammond.

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Comments

  • Phill says:

    So all it needs is for one innocent car driver to pull out to over take another vehicle 🚗 and everybody is dead that is just madness for any public road or highway. You should take it on a track made for high speed cars not on public roads that is just so mad tyre blows out or any other issue emergency workers are picking up body parts and bits of cars

  • Clive Davies says:

    By my calculations that’s over 4 miles a minute, an absurd speed. I was told that while autobahns have no speed limits insurance becomes invalid over 80mph, is this true?
    I remember in the mid 60s an AC Cobra was tested on the M1 at over 190mph, publicity from this was a major factor in the 70mph national speed limit being introduced.

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