Excessive Speeding as a Crime in Switzerland: Art. 90 SVG and the Raserdelikt Thresholds

Switzerland treats grossly excessive speeding as a crime, not merely a traffic fine, under Art. 90 SVG. This page works through exactly where that line sits, the fixed speed thresholds that trigger it automatically, and the 2023 reform that changed how a first offender can be sentenced.

A conviction under these provisions is rarely the only consequence. The same conduct almost always triggers a separate administrative licence withdrawal covered in full on our licence withdrawal page, and that page is where the surprising two year minimum actually lives.

It is part of our wider Swiss traffic law coverage, itself part of the broader guide to Swiss law.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Swiss law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

Art. 90 Abs. 1 and Abs. 2: before the Raserdelikt applies

Ordinary speeding and most traffic violations in Switzerland fall under Art. 90 Abs. 1 SVG, punished with a Busse, a fine, and often resolved through the fixed penalty Ordnungsbussenverfahren rather than a court case at all. That changes once a violation crosses into Art. 90 Abs. 2 SVG, a gross violation of traffic rules that creates or merely accepts a serious danger to the safety of others.

Abs. 2 already carries a custodial sentence of up to three years or a monetary penalty, and it is a genuine crime, not a fixed fine. It sits one tier below the Raserdelikt itself, and the wording it uses to define the offence is identical to the wording Art. 16c SVG uses to define a schwere Widerhandlung for licence withdrawal purposes.

Art. 90 Abs. 3: the Raserdelikt itself

Art. 90 Abs. 3 SVG is Switzerland's dedicated speeding and reckless driving crime, commonly called the Raserdelikt. It applies to intentional violation of elementary traffic rules that creates a high risk of an accident with serious injury or death, named specifically as grossly excessive speed, reckless overtaking, or participation in an unauthorised race.

The custodial range is one to four years, and unlike Abs. 2, Abs. 3 does not offer a monetary penalty as an ordinary alternative. The one year minimum is what the 2023 reform's Abs. 3bis and Abs. 3ter provisions, covered further down this page, actually operate on.

Art. 90 Abs. 4: the fixed speed thresholds

Grossly excessive speed is not a single number in Switzerland. Art. 90 Abs. 4 SVG sets four separate thresholds, and which one applies depends on the posted limit where the violation happened.

Take a driver clocked at 105 km/h on a road posted at 50 km/h. The excess is 55 km/h, which crosses the 50 km/h threshold that applies wherever the posted limit is 50 km/h or less. That crossing alone, independent of any actual danger the specific drive created, automatically qualifies as grossly excessive speed under Art. 90 Abs. 4 and places the driver inside Art. 90 Abs. 3's Raserdelikt.

The 2023 reform: Abs. 3bis and Abs. 3ter

A reform in force since 1 October 2023 added two new paragraphs to Art. 90 SVG without changing the underlying Abs. 3 or Abs. 4 figures above. Both provisions concern only how a person who meets those thresholds is actually sentenced.

Art. 90 Abs. 3bis allows the Abs. 3 minimum of one year custodial to be undercut where a recognised mitigating ground under Art. 48 StGB applies. That article lists honourable motives, severe personal distress, acting under the impression of a serious threat, genuine remorse including making good the harm where reasonably possible, and a markedly reduced need for punishment where enough time has passed and the person has behaved well since.

Art. 48a StGB then confirms what a mitigating ground actually does procedurally. A court that mitigates the sentence this way is no longer bound by the threatened minimum penalty at all, though it must still stay within the general upper and lower bounds set for that type of sentence.

Art. 90 Abs. 3ter SVG is the genuinely new first offender route. It allows a monetary penalty instead of any custodial sentence, for a person who has not been convicted in the preceding ten years of a road traffic crime or misdemeanour involving serious danger to others, or actual injury or death.

The 180 Tagessätze figure, and what it actually is

A monetary penalty made available under Abs. 3ter is not itself capped by any figure written into Art. 90 SVG. What actually limits its size is the StGB's own general default under Art. 34 Abs. 1, which sets a monetary penalty at a minimum of three and a maximum of 180 Tagessätze, daily penalty units, unless the law provides otherwise.

That means 180 Tagessätze is a general ceiling on a monetary penalty across Swiss criminal law, not a figure written specifically into the Raserdelikt reform. Framing it as a floor the reform keeps in place gets both the direction and the source wrong. The correct statement is that Abs. 3ter makes a monetary penalty available at all for a qualifying first offender, and that penalty is then sized under the ordinary StGB rule like any other.

The licence withdrawal that runs alongside a Raserdelikt conviction

A criminal sentence under Art. 90 Abs. 3 or Abs. 4 SVG is rarely the only consequence. The same conduct, meeting the same Art. 90 Abs. 4 thresholds described above, also triggers Art. 16c Abs. 2 lit. abis SVG, a mandatory two year minimum licence withdrawal that applies even to a first offence with no prior history at all.

Our licence withdrawal page covers that provision and its full five rung ladder in depth, including the one narrow way the two year figure can be reduced. It is the consequence that surprises most drivers convicted under this page's thresholds, since a criminal sentence and an administrative withdrawal are decided in two entirely separate proceedings.

The wider relationship between a fixed penalty, a criminal sentence and a licence withdrawal is covered on our Swiss traffic law hub, and our fixed penalty page covers the much smaller violations the Ordnungsbussenverfahren still handles below the thresholds on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

What speed counts as grossly excessive speeding in Switzerland?

It depends on the posted limit. Art. 90 Abs. 4 SVG sets four thresholds: 40 km per hour or more over where the limit is 30 or less, 50 or more over where the limit is 50 or less, 60 or more over where the limit is 80 or less, and 80 or more over where the limit exceeds 80.

Is grossly excessive speeding always prosecuted as a crime in Switzerland?

Yes. Once a measured excess crosses one of the Art. 90 Abs. 4 thresholds, it automatically qualifies as grossly excessive speed and falls under Art. 90 Abs. 3, the Raserdelikt, which is a genuine crime, not a fixed penalty and not an ordinary fine.

What is the minimum prison sentence for the Raserdelikt in Switzerland?

Art. 90 Abs. 3 SVG carries a custodial range of one to four years. The one year minimum can be undercut only through the mitigating grounds in Art. 48 StGB, or replaced with a monetary penalty for a qualifying first offender under Art. 90 Abs. 3ter.

Can a first time offender avoid a prison sentence for grossly excessive speeding in Switzerland?

Possibly. Art. 90 Abs. 3ter, in force since 1 October 2023, allows a monetary penalty instead of any custodial sentence for a person with no conviction in the preceding ten years for a road traffic crime or misdemeanour involving serious danger to others or actual injury or death.

Is there a 180 day fine floor for the Raserdelikt in Switzerland?

No. Nothing in Art. 90 SVG sets a 180 Tagessätze figure at all. That number is the StGB's own general ceiling on a monetary penalty under Art. 34 Abs. 1, and it caps a Raserdelikt monetary penalty only because Art. 90 does not set a different range of its own.

Does a Raserdelikt conviction also cost a person their driving licence in Switzerland?

Almost always, and separately from the criminal sentence. Meeting the Art. 90 Abs. 4 thresholds also triggers Art. 16c Abs. 2 lit. abis, a mandatory two year minimum licence withdrawal that applies even on a first offence with no prior history.

What changed in the 2023 reform to Art. 90 SVG?

The reform, in force since 1 October 2023, added Abs. 3bis and Abs. 3ter. It did not change the Abs. 3 custodial range or the Abs. 4 speed thresholds. It changed only how a qualifying first offender can be sentenced.

Does reckless overtaking count as grossly excessive speeding without a specific measured speed?

Reckless overtaking and participation in an unauthorised race are named in Art. 90 Abs. 3 SVG as their own qualifying conduct, alongside grossly excessive speed. Neither needs a measured speed excess crossing the Abs. 4 thresholds to fall under the same custodial range.