Sections: In the Press Nov 5th, 2007 32 Comments 
A top BMW boss has been reportedly jailed for six weeks for lying to police after being clocked at 101 MPH in a MINI. Reported by Dailymail.co.uk.
Yesterday he was jailed for perjury after claiming falsely that his 19-year-old son had been driving the car at more than twice the legal 50mph speed limit.
He is the latest in a growing number of motorists who try to illegally “swap points” to keep their licences clean or escape a ban.
Mr Moser, from Oxford, was caught shortly after 7am on May 4 by a speed-camera van on Oxford’s Eastern by-pass. The legal limit on the road is 50 mph.
He was driving a BMW-owned Mini – the cult car made by the British-based but German owned firm whose finances he controlled, Banbury Magistrates’ court was told.
Despite photographic evidence to the contrary, Moser, a German national, claimed his son Maximilian was driving at the time of the offence.
You can read the full report below.
[ Lying BMW chief is jailed for speeding ] Dailymail.co.uk
michael Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Draconian speed laws designed to appeal to mass mediocrity; folks who like to use a phone while driving, eat triple heart attack burgers and perform other acts in car all having nothing to do with driving. Speed doesn’t neccessarily kill, but stupidity at any speeds does…not that I know the circumstance. This is more a rant than anything. wow, glad I vented. Thanks Gabe.
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Bill Lawrence Nov 5th, 2007 Link
What kind of asshat would sell out his own son to save his drivers license?
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ValparaisoExpress Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Mr. Moser, you should be ashamed of yourself. And this is not just about wreck less speeding but also about intentional and systematic lying to the authorities. What a tool this guy is. Using his son as a shield to prevent losing his driver’s license (And most likely his cushy job at BMW) is beyond reprehensible.
Kudos to London police for putting this individual behind bars. I hope BMW takes disciplinary actions and fires this guy on the spot.
He has indeed tarnished not only his personal reputation, but BMW/MINI as a whole.
I hope his dismissal serves as a deterrent to other higher ups in the BMW chain of command to think twice about caught speeding in the products they sell.
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AN Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Agreed. Total asshat. Unless he can greenlight a non-metallic BRG, in which case he must be set free immediately.
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Nathaniel Salzman Nov 5th, 2007 Link
I’m all for corporate responsibility, but the bad choices this guy makes outside the office shouldn’t bother his job by default. If everybody got sacked for every one of their indiscretions both in and outside the office, no one would have jobs. Here it’s a gray area, since he works for a high-end car company. But seriously, he tried to get out of a speeding ticket, not steel the car, or hand the cop his beer when he got pulled over. He got caught, he’ll serve his time, and that should be the end of it. It’s really easy to call for a dismissal when it isn’t YOUR job.
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Nathaniel Salzman Nov 5th, 2007 Link
greenlight a non-metallic BRG, in which case he must be set free immediately.
LOL! Indeed! I’ll help raise bail in that case.
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GregW Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Hey give the guy a break. In Germany on the Autobahn you can go as fast as you want in some places. Auto journos rave about this. Now if you were driving in a foreign country, would you know all the rules of the road? Fire him for speeding? No. For lying? Maybe. Jail term? How come Paris Hilton got out so soon?
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Evan Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Maybe we should be addressing the big brother policies of speed cameras here. 101mph in a 50mph is a bit excessive and he should not have blamed it on his son, but speed cameras seem the most wrong here.
Safety should be part of education, training, and common sense. Speed cameras are a direct showing of distrust in a people and a need to exploit speeding fines without the manhours of police. ie to make money…
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jas cooper Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Maybe he was trying to get to his closest dealer in less than 3 hours
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Vanwall Nov 5th, 2007 Link
He’s the head bean-counter at the Oxford plant, and something tells me his credibilty would be under scrutiny even though this happened outside the business. Then he perjures himself – AND uses his son as shield! It’s no longer a traffic violation. Sack the guy now – he’s compromised – if I was in the clink for six weeks, my ass’d be fired.
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Pretzel Logic Nov 5th, 2007 Link
It’s one thing to drive 101 mph in a 50-mph zone; it’s quite another to lie about it and place the blame on your son — three times, no less. Makes you wonder about how honestly he keeps BMW’s books. And someone that high up the corporate food chain most definitely is aware that England doesn’t have an autobahn.
For those of you railing aginst traffic cameras, I suppose you’re willing to pony up some extra money to put more cops on the beat? Didn’t think so . . .
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Brent Breon Nov 5th, 2007 Link
“Maybe we should be addressing the big brother policies of speed cameras here”
Agreed, I’m looking for the makeup applications Starbucks drinking camera!! There has to be a way to program a camera to look for that white and green cup.
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RB Nov 5th, 2007 Link
VanWall, I usually agree with most of what you say not this time. Gotta go with Nathan here. Some of you have some funny things to say…and some…. I’d like to be a bug in your car from time to time to see if your halos are really glowing that bright. LOL
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Nathaniel Salzman Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Why is it that people automatically shorten my name to Nathan? Are those extra three letters SUCH a burden? Did I type Nathan? Did I introduce myself as Nathan? What gives?
(Not just picking on you RB, it happens everywhere and it’s MADDENING)
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Vanwall Nov 5th, 2007 Link
RB – I would ordinarily have some sympathy for the sap, it’s hard to keep that needle pointing to a legal speed sometimes; however, it’s no longer about just speeding, it’s about using his own son as a scapegoat that would saddle the poor kid with consequences of his father’s making – I no longer have faith in the confidentiality of juvenile records – and lying multiple times to make it so. It’s so contemptible, it’s beyond expletives.
It smacks of cowardice if you feel it’s only evasion of points, and worse if it’s seen as a measure of his trust – he’s responsible for some serious financials, and much of that level of responsibility has a higher measure of one’s ethics. If he was willing to perjure himself so baldly about a traffic violation, who knows what his limits are. If he had taken his medicine for the speeding, I’d say he was a stand-up guy; at this point, I wouldn’t trust him with a burned-out match, much less the books.
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Vanwall Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Nathaniel, I coulda said “Gee, Nate, I’ll never do that again!”, but I won’t. ;-)
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RB Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Well Nathaniel, I’m am sorry as I hate Robert being shortened to “Bob” but it happens. So sorry but there are worse things in life? LOL
“VAN” ;-)… I have no sympathy for the man and yes it was tacky but good lord it’s not like he hit and ran after pounding down a few pints.
Tacky maybe but the gallows or guillotine, I think not. LOL, RB
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ted Nov 5th, 2007 Link
Jail term? How come Paris Hilton got out so soon?
GregW, Well, here is a good argument. Let’s see, un like the good old USA, countries in Europe take driving seriously. The drivers education is VERY expensive and the test is hard and again expensive! I wish that it was as hard here as it is in many EU countries, just think of all the bad, no horrible drivers that would be off the road.
You go watch TMZ so you can keep up with Paris, I will go to Germany again and drive the Autobahn.
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PaulGraz Nov 6th, 2007 Link
Seems like he got what he deserved. 6 weeks in the can, plus you know BMW will not be very happy for all the bad press. I doubt he’ll be permanently fired from the company, but perhaps loss of the company car and a demotion to jr bean counter is in order…
If he wanted to drive fast, he could go do it on the track. A man in his position could pull some strings and be driving a company owned MINI on the nearest road course.
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Nathaniel Salzman Nov 6th, 2007 Link
Well Nathaniel, I’m am sorry as I hate Robert being shortened to “Bob” but it happens. So sorry but there are worse things in life? LOL
Yeah, like getting thrown in the slam for six weeks! Ha ha!
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Pete Nov 6th, 2007 Link
Moser and his son should have a rosy relationship after this! The Daily Mail makes for some great reading! Wonder what Brittney’s Cabrio is worth?
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msh441 Nov 6th, 2007 Link
As stated… he wasn’t jailed for speeding. He was thrown in the pokey and fined for PERJURY! A very different thing alltogehter. It’s a very-very bad to get caught lying in court (particularly after being given chances to back away from the edge). You go from facing a simple civil infraction to a felony offense.
I would be really suprised if you see him working for BMW 12-months from now. It doesn’t look good to have your financial manager with a felony record. If he’d lie about that, who’s to say he’s not cooking the books? He’s had a 20-year career. They’ll give some moderate discipline in-house and force him into retirement.
Reply[...] posted about his clear turn signals, a MINI Plant exec was busted, the MINI 37 game went live, White Roof Radio was live for shows 200 and 201 (going up later [...]
O(=^=)OCapn Nov 12th, 2007 Link
I think that the real story here is that he was going 101 in a One.
And I think that I will start calling Nathanial “The Salz” for his zesty comments that keep MF full of flavor. ;) Any flattering nickname is a term of endearment.
And as for myself, you can just call me O(=^=)O. Or the artist formerly known as Capn.
Okay, I know it wasn’t a One, but whatever.
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