Laws imposing speed limits are standard in all countries, but the ways they are broken are sometimes distinctive. Guenther Eichmann was recently stopped by police in the high street in Geseke, Germany, for driving at 40mph, twice the speed limit. His case resulted in a £300 fine and the confiscation of his vehicle.

But if you looked at the prosecution papers expecting to see that the vehicle he was driving was a BMW or a Mercedes, you’d be surprised. Mr Eichmann, 54, a former engineer, was driving a supercharged electric wheelchair that he had modified himself.