Finnish Senior Drives Drunk to Prague Using Map of Czechoslovakia

The man says he started drinking due to the the stress of realizing that his vintage map did not match the current networks of roads

Expats.cz Staff Jason Pirodsky

Written by Expats.cz StaffJason Pirodsky Published on 05.04.2017 11:42:21 (updated on 05.04.2017) Reading time: 1 minute

Using an old map which still showed Czechoslovakia as a state, a 64-year-old Finnish man set out to visit his daughter in Prague by car this past weekend.

Near the German border, the man, named as Hannu Sepponen by Novinky.cz and other Czech media outlets, realized that the route on the map didn’t exactly match the current network of roads and began drinking to ease the stress.

The senior citizen flagged down officers in Sytno, near Pilsen, to ask for directions, though not before plowing over a traffic sign.

Suspicious that he had been drinking, the police breathalyzed the lost tourist—who blew almost a 2 permille.

In Tachov district court on Tuesday, Mr. Sepponen was fined 19,000 CZK, given a three-year driving ban, and expulsion from the Czech Republic for five years; he must leave the country by Thursday.

He spent two days in Czech police custody.

Mr. Sepponen was apparently satisfied with the punishment saying that he was certain he would have faced a stricter penalty (“two years as opposed to two days”) in his homeland.

Thankfully, neither Mr. Sepponen nor any bystanders were injured.

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