Confiscation of cars for speeding: will it come to Greece?

Greece introduces more a strict system of penalties for speeding. Vehicle confiscations Not yet, but for extreme offenders this scenario already discussed.

Speeding remains one of the main causes of fatal road accidents in Greece and throughout Europe. According to European estimates, a significant portion of road deaths are associated with driving faster than the permitted limit. In other words, the problem is not that drivers are “a little in a hurry,” but that too often this rush ends in a hospital, a cemetery and another statistic that everyone discusses until the next accident.

IN Greecedespite the gradual improvement in road statistics, the situation remains alarming. This was precisely one of the arguments for preparing a new Traffic Code — ΚΟΚwhich introduces a more stringent and graduated system of penalties for dangerous behavior on the road.

Law 5209/2025 for the first time creates a more consistent system of sanctions, where the emphasis is not only on punishment, but also on preventing repeat violations. WITH January 1, 2026 The new framework of speed limits, which depend on the type of road, is fully applied.

New speed limits

For passenger cars new ΚΟΚ sets a general limit 30 km/h in populated areas. This is a noticeable change from the previous overall limit 50 km/hwhich was used inside cities.

Exceptions are provided for larger urban roads. On one-way roads with two lanes, as well as on two-way roads with a median, the limit may remain up to 50 km/hunless special road signs establish another restriction.

Outside populated areas, the limits for passenger cars are:

• 130 km/h – on highways;
• 110 km/h — on high-speed roads;
• 90 km/h – on the rest of the road network.

Fines: in stages

The new system of penalties depends on the size of the excess. For exceeding the speed limit by up to 20 km/h a fine is provided 150 euros. For exceeding by more than 20 km/h and up to 30 km/h the fine is also 150 eurosbut the driver is deprived of his license to 20 days.

For exceeding by more than 30 km/h and up to 50 km/h the fine increases to 350 eurosand the driver’s license and vehicle registration data are confiscated at 30 days.

A separate issue is the so-called unspoken “admission” to 10–20 km/hto which many drivers in Greece have long been accustomed. In practice, slight speeding was indeed often not perceived as a serious violation, especially on public roads and wide urban highways. However, legally there was no such permission: exceeding the limit remained a violation, even if controls were applied selectively.

New ΚΟК actually breaks this usual logic. Now speeding even up to 20 km/h directly falls into the penalty category and attracts a fine 150 euros. That is, the former unspoken practice of “plus twenty – you can still do it” is gradually becoming a thing of the past, especially where control will be carried out by digital cameras and automatically linked to the offender’s data.

This will become especially sensitive in cities where the basic limit is reduced to 30 km/h. If the driver is driving 50 km/h where the new city limit applies 30 km/hformally, this is no longer the “ordinary city speed” to which many are accustomed, but an excess of 20 km/h with an appropriate fine. And this is where the old driving folklore collides with the new digital reality.

Separate sanctions apply to drivers who drive:

• on the motorway at a higher speed 150 km/h;
• on a high-speed road at a higher speed 130 km/h;
• along the rest of the road network at higher speeds 120 km/h.

In these cases there is also a fine 350 euros and confiscation of driver’s license and vehicle registration documents for 30 days.

To exceed the limit by more than 50 km/h the official ministerial summary indicates tougher sanctions: fine 700 euros and deprivation of a driver’s license for 60 days. For repeated violations, the fines increase: the first repeated violation can cost 1,000 euros and deprivation of rights until 180 daysthe second – in 2,000 euros and deprivation of rights to 1 year.

At the top of the scale is movement at a speed higher 200 km/h or participation in illegal street racing – so-called “contra”. There is a fine for this 2,000 euros and deprivation of a driver’s license for 1 year. On the first repeated fixation, the punishment increases to 4,000 euros and deprivation of rights to 2 yearswith the second – up to 8,000 euros and deprivation of rights to 4 years.

Cameras and digital fines

The new law is not just a table of fines that can be hung on the wall and solemnly forgotten. Simultaneously with its adoption, the gradual installation of the network began digital cameras with AI V Attica and major urban centers. The goal is to increase their number to more than 2 500 all over the country towards the end 2026.

Fines should be sent automatically through gov.gr directly into the system TAXISnet violator. That is, the usual hope that the piece of paper will be lost, the inspector will forget, and the Universe will show mercy to the speed lover is becoming less and less realistic.

If the fine is not paid within the prescribed period, it will automatically turn into a confirmed debt to the state. Control also extends to the islands, especially during the summer months, when the usual Greek road chaos is compounded by the tourist season, car rentals, scooters and individual drivers’ belief in personal immortality.

What other European countries are doing

Despite the tightening of Greek rules, by European standards the new system still looks relatively moderate. IN Austria Since 2024, an extremely tough approach has been in effect: in case of very serious speeding, the car can be temporarily confiscated, and for systematic offenders or particularly dangerous cases, it can be permanently confiscated and put up for auction.

The Austrian logic is simple: if a driver turns a car into a potential weapon, the state can deprive him not only of his rights, but also of the instrument of violation itself. With a limit 130 km/h on motorways this means driving at speeds around 220 km/h and higher can already have not only financial, but also property consequences.

Switzerland has been employing a similar philosophy of tough response to extreme speed for over a decade. Finland took a different route: there the amount of fines can be calculated taking into account the income of the offender, so that the punishment is felt both for an employee with a low salary and for a wealthy businessman.

The most famous example is the case of 2002, when a high-ranking manager Nokia imposed a fine of 116,000 euros for exceeding the limit 50 km/h on 25 km/h. Harsh? Yes. But a rich driver learns, at least for a minute, that the law sometimes knows how to count not only kilometers, but also income.

Will there be confiscation of cars in Greece?

Greecedespite the increase in fines and tougher penalties under the new ΚΟΚhas not yet introduced car confiscation for extreme speeding. This decision is not accidental: in the Greek legal system, the seizure of private property as an administrative measure, and not as a punishment after a judicial decision, faces serious constitutional restrictions.

In addition, political readiness for such a step, apparently, has not yet matured. Confiscation of a car is an extremely harsh measure, and any introduction of it will require very careful legal registration so that the punishment does not turn into a source of endless legal disputes.

However, the issue is not closed. According to Greek automotive publications, such a measure is being considered as a possible next step for the most dangerous cases: driving at speeds above 200 km/h or participating in illegal racing. It is in these situations that many experts consider current fines to be an insufficient deterrent.

The problem is simple: for some drivers the fine is 2,000 euros – a serious blow, for others – an unpleasant but tolerable price for demonstrating speed. And if punishment does not stop, it turns not into prevention, but into a paid ticket to risk. Moreover, not only the driver himself is at risk, but also those who simply happen to be nearby on the road.

Therefore, the discussion about car confiscation in Greece almost inevitable. The more digital cameras record real speeds on the roads, the more often society will ask an unpleasant question: are there enough fines and deprivation of licenses for those who deliberately turn the road into a race track?

New ΚΟΚ takes a step towards stricter control. But the main test will not be in the text of the law, but on the roads. If the system of cameras, fines and repeated sanctions actually works, and not as another Greek reform “on paper”, the effect could be noticeable. If control turns out to be selective again, then even the most beautiful tables of fines will remain what good laws often become without enforcement: decoration for a press release.

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