Thessaloniki Drivers Convicted for Reaching 221 km/h in Illegal Race

Two drivers in Thessaloniki have been convicted of dangerous driving after being caught traveling at a staggering 221 kilometers per hour on the Thessaloniki-Athens national highway. The incident involved what witnesses described as an informal race between the two men.

The Thessaloniki Court of First Instance handed down sentences for the 32-year-old and 25-year-old drivers. The older driver received an 18-month prison sentence, commuted to a daily fine of 10 euros. The younger driver was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for three years, after the court recognized a mitigating factor of a clean prior record.

Authorities apprehended the drivers in the early morning hours of May 23rd during targeted checks by a special unit of the Thessaloniki Traffic Police Directorate. The police recorded the speeds of the two cars between the KTEL bus station "Makedonia" and the city's Inner Ring Road. The legal speed limit in that section of the highway is 120 km/h.

During the investigation, it was also found that the 25-year-old driver was under the influence of alcohol, although his blood alcohol level was below the criminal threshold. The 32-year-old denied the charges, claiming he was driving his girlfriend home and not at such high speeds. The 25-year-old did not appear in court and was represented by his lawyer, who argued that the vehicle was technically incapable of exceeding 200 km/h and that the defendant merely wanted to test it after recent repairs. A police officer testified that the two cars drove parallel for about four seconds at 221 km/h, noting an "informal competition" between them, though no prior agreement for a race was established.