Austrian authorities they took away the driver’s license for a month from the finance minister of the country Magnus Brunner, after he was caught running while driving his ministerial car, it was announced today by his ministry.

Brunner, 51, was driving the BMW on a road in the city of Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, at a speed that exceeded the 80 km/h speed limit by at least 50 km/h when police stopped him on Saturday morning, the finance ministry said. confirming the information published by the newspaper Vorarlberger Nachrichten.

“En route to a personal appointment, Finance Minister Magnus Brunner did not pay attention to a temporary speed limit,” the ministry said in a statement, declining to say exactly what speed the minister was driving.

“The finance minister regrets the incident and apologizes,” it added.

Although ministers in Austria have drivers to take them to official appointments, they are allowed to drive their ministerial cars themselves for private use, the ministry stressed. Saturday was a public holiday in Austria.

The withdrawal of the driver’s license for one month is the penalty for exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h in Austria, except within cities, where it is imposed for exceeding the speed limit by at least 40 km/h.

This was not Brunner’s first driving-related indiscretion. A year ago the Austrian minister found himself in hospital with a head injury following an incident with an electric scooter in Vienna, which he said he caused himself when he was not paying attention as he turned a corner.