Early on a Sunday morning, gendarmes in France's Haute-Savoie region aimed a radar at a Porsche 911 GT3 on the A40 and got a reading of roughly 194mph. The posted limit was 81 mph, meaning the driver was 113 mph over, or more than twice as fast as legally permitted. At 194 mph, the driver was just a few miles per hour below what appears to be a 991-gen GT3's claimed top speed, except this wasn't some closed section of road; this was a motorway at night. Understandably, the car was impounded, the driver's license suspended, and he was hit with a bond of $1,740 before he was released. France's New Speeding RecordThe 911 GT3 driver appears to have set a new French motorway speeding record in the process. The previous record was an Audi RS3, clocked at 178 mph on the same A40 earlier this year. France introduced tougher penalties for extreme speeding in 2025, where driving more than 31 mph over the limit can now constitute a criminal offence, even for a first-time offender. The driver could face a fine of roughly $4,350 and up to three months in prison, with a court appearance reportedly scheduled for early next year. Swiss Speeding Laws Could Make Things WorseThe 48-year-old driver is Swiss, and Switzerland's speeding laws are considerably more severe. On Swiss motorways, exceeding the limit by 50 mph or more constitutes a serious speeding offence and carries potential prison time, lengthy driving bans and fines tied to the driver's financial circumstances. Simply put, the richer you are, the heavier you get hit. Because this driver's offence occurred in France, the driving ban against his licence applies only there. However, in extreme cases, Swiss authorities can independently review the driver's fitness to drive and levy consequences, including a ban in Switzerland too. Could The Radar Actually End Up Saving Him?Once the Gendarmerie de la Haute-Savoie posted about the incident on social media, readers identified the radar pictured in the post and pointed out that its published certification reportedly limits it to speeds of around 300 kmph, or 186 mph. A traffic lawyer, speaking to blue News, has suggested that could give the driver grounds to challenge the reading in court.Gendarmerie de la Haute-SavoieThat doesn't mean a 194-mph radar reading suddenly disappears, but it could force prosecutors to prove that the specific device was legally certified to measure speeds that high. In other words, the biggest problem facing this Porsche driver may not be proving that he was going fast, it may be proving exactly how fast he was going.
