What happened to the Czech magnate who drove his Bugatti at 257 MpH?

Czech business magnate Radim Passer went viral in January when he shared a video of himself driving at 414 kilometers per hour (257 mph). The recording has since been viewed more than 11 million times.

The video was uploaded to Passer’s YouTube channel, which is filled with recordings of the businessman testing the top speed of sports cars such as Lamborghinis and Porsches on Germany’s highway system, the Autobahn.

In the point-of-view video, Passer is seen driving a Bugatti Chiron on the highway between Berlin and Hannover and reaching a top speed of 414 km per hour. Driving at such high speeds is not illegal as certain sections of the Autobahn have no speed limit.

But the German government scolded Passer for his actions. In a January press release, the German Transportation Ministry said it “rejects any behavior in road traffic that leads or can lead to endangering road users.”

“All road users must abide by the rules of the road traffic regulations,” it added, citing the first clause of Germany’s road traffic law, which states that “anyone participating in traffic must behave in such a way that no other person is harmed, endangered or obstructed or inconvenienced more than is unavoidable under the circumstances.”

But after months of controversy, the German justice system decided not to press charges against Passer. According to the news agency DPA, German prosecutors reviewed the recordings and concluded that Passer had not broken the law because he “had chosen the best time and conditions” to carry out the stunt.

In the YouTube description, Passer himself defended the stunt on the grounds that it was done safely. He said: “The section of the A2 was a three-lane, 10-km straightaway with a light descent in the middle, so there was visibility along the whole stretch. Safety was a priority, so the circumstances had to be safe to go.”