Photo radar tickets in Europe - Do I pay them?

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by speeder

If you don't mind saying, which country did you purchase a vehicle in? I was under the impression that non-citizens couldn't register a car or MC in most European countries, much less insure it as a citizen. This is valuable info for me, thanks!

Truly sorry to give you possibly false hopes, that's not gonna help you, dual citizenship here with EU passport and address I can use (I'd have specified it but the topic was "paying fines")... Buying and registering was easy (online). I am not sure they checked who lives where honestly and I got the title 3 days later. Insurance was more complex as a "newb", but in the end super cheap even without discounts I'd normally expect . They inquired about a letter from US insurer to prove past experience (all that did was avoid me penalties, at least).

I do not know for sure that you could register a car in Europe without a local driver license (or living there at least part of the year, lots of brir expats in southern europe). I do know a good friend bought a 60s Alpine A110 - had it covered somehow (hagerty maybe?) - drove it in the south of France on the Napoleon route, and then shipped it home to FL. So it must be possible, I will ask him.

That was my purchase...

[ErVikingo]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I've always blown these off in the past because the tickets from Germany always arrived weeks after their due dates and with no way to know what kind of late fee they'd tack on or if they'd then consider it paid or unpaid if I just paid the original fine amount sans unspecified late fee. Furthermore, my bank charges a $40 foreign wire transaction fee, making these tickets pretty expensive. I never heard from the rental car companies about these, never had a problem renting on my next trip, have had plenty of police interactions on subsequent trips, and so I'm pretty sure these just fell through the cracks.

I just got one from Switzerland, directly from the police 60 days after the infraction. They got me for 61 km/h in a 50 zone, gave me 5 km/h forgiveness and so for a net of 6 km/h over, the fine is CHF 120 or $141 USD. This is insanely expensive. I remember the flash, I was coasting down a hill, not at all in a hurry and with no one around and in the middle nowhere.

I thought I read in an old thread here that Dottore said Switzerland is pretty militant about collecting on there, while other countries aren't. I may drive into Switzerland again someday (years from now), but am almost positive I'll never enter via an airport. I rented this last car in Frankfurt and wonder how long a ticket in Switzerland can take to go stale. Any idea? Cloggie?

I got 3 from Switzerland last summer. By the time I paid them they had added charges to the tune of $100. If you dont pay they charge them to the rental company and you then get that bill

[Deschodt]

BTW, may amuse the OP: A couple years ago I got busted driving thru France on my way from Le Mans to Italy, at 40kph over. Not as heinous as you think, I was doing the actual speed limit but braked 50yrds and 2 cones too late into a "construction zone speed of 90" because a semi truck I was just passing "hid" the first cones from my sight. So +40 for like 0.5% of the zone, and no mercy with motorcycle cops there either ;-) But i knew it was coming up ahead and was attempting to pass the big ass truck before being stuck behind its diesel spewing back end for 20 minutes, so it's on me... (empty construction zone BTW, like the previous 19 ones).

Poof... Immediate arrest and license removal. I sorta expected to be taken away but they were super nice and nobody drew a gun.. Lucky my wife could drive and we carried on short one California license and with a year ban driving on the territory! I never got it back in the mail as was promised, I got a letter 6 mo later that I was charged guilty and my DL would be sent back to me at "the Romanian embassy" (instead of American embassy, LOL). Whoever got it in Romania or elsewhere probably shredded it... End result ? $130 fine only (less than +6 kph in switzerland), and no driving for the next few days (resumed 100 yards past the border), DMV sent me a fresh repalcement within 2 weeks LOL... Switzerland is way worse so don't mess with the swiss if you plan on ever driving there again... These folks will tell on you if you so much as run the washer/dryer after hours, imagine a speeding ticket ! And failing that they'll tag the card used on the rental car and add a processing fee !

[Rick Lee]

Oh, did I mention they left a digit out of my address, making my house about 10 streets farther east from my correct address? Of course, I got the ticket anyway. But would that save me if I got busted years later in Switzerland?

[speeder]

No.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Oh, did I mention they left a digit out of my address, making my house about 10 streets farther east from my correct address? Of course, I got the ticket anyway. But would that save me if I got busted years later in Switzerland?

Why not? They have no idea if it ever got delivered.

That would work for me.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by javadog

Why not? They have no idea if it ever got delivered.

That would work for me.

Didn't go well for Randy Weaver.

[javadog]

Entirely different set of facts…

[zakthor]

What a timely thread. Just received notice yesterday i was doin’ 87 in an 80 outside of damned foix. $140. 54 mph in a 50. Leaving that nightmare of a town and confused by the road signs. I know exactly when i happened. Foix of all places. Grr.

[pmax]

[Rick Lee]

I got one in Germany about 10 yrs ago where the speed limit changed after I left the house and before I got back. Leaving in the morning, I knew the limit was 100. What I didn't know was that it dropped to 80 at 10pm. No sign on this in the direction I was traveling in the morning. So I was going exactly 100 upon my return when I saw the sign about the limit dropping. Camera was inside the sign. I blew that ticket off with a very clear conscience. My local friend said they had to reduce the speed limit because of all the noise at night. Fine. How about some more signage?

[jcommin]

Another vote to pay it. This would not be worth my time or adding to additional anxiety.

[CurtEgerer]

Pay the damn ticket - Rolex needs the money!

Swiss Watchmakers Put Employees On State-funded Furlough

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Pay the damn ticket - Rolex needs the money!

Swiss Watchmakers Put Employees On State-funded Furlough

99 bucks to read one article? Not for me, but what? Low demand for Rolex? Is this something we should be concerned about?

[Sooner or later]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

99 bucks to read one article? Not for me, but what? Low demand for Rolex? Is this something we should be concerned about?

"It’s a small watch crisis so far, slightly disconnected from the economy,” Pruniaux said in an interview at the Geneva Watch Days show last week. “This year is a challenge,” he added.

Around 40 companies in the canton of Jura, a hub for watch component makers, submitted applications for short-time work compensation during the summer, Pierre-Alain Berret, head of the Jura Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told newspaper NZZ last month. The applications represented a significant increase from the start of the year when just five companies had applied.

Swiss watchmakers are suffering from a sharp decline in demand, especially in China, following an unprecedented boom during the post-pandemic era when consumers rushed to buy pricey timepieces. After three straight years of record exports, wholesale watch exports have fallen by 2.4% in value in the first seven months of the year as consumers refrain from splashing out on expensive watches.

The drop in consumer demand has hit brands making slightly less expensive watches the hardest, while top-selling brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe have been more resilient.

[CurtEgerer]

..... Swiss watchmakers are suffering from a sharp decline in demand, especially in China, following an unprecedented boom during the post-pandemic era when consumers rushed to buy pricey timepieces. After three straight years of record exports, wholesale watch exports have fallen by 2.4% in value in the first seven months of the year as consumers refrain from splashing out on expensive watches.

The drop in consumer demand has hit brands making slightly less expensive watches the hardest, while top-selling brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe have been more resilient.

The slowdown has also affected Richemont, the group behind Vacheron Constantin and IWC, and Omega owner Swatch Group AG, which have both seen sales dive in China. .....

[pmax]

[Geronimo '74]

Pay the fuggin' fine already.
What are you? A lefty deadbeat who thinks he's above the law??
You did the crime, man up, pay up.

[kevin993]

Fwiw, we spent the last week driving around Austria. Speed limits are a guessing game. Signage is variable at best. Highways are reasonably well posted. Local roads seem to be 100 kph but that's per our car GPS rather than roadside signs. Smaller towns can be 50 or 30, but who knows. 70 sometimes shows up for giggles.

There are rarely signs when speed limits change, so you make a reasonable guess when entering or leaving a small town. It is not uncommon to go from 100 to 50 or 30 without something in the middle. Some places are marked and some are not. Speed cameras are densely situated in some places and absent in others. My unofficial and unscientific observation is that cameras are often positioned to catch people accelerating too early leaving town (as opposed to catching people coming into town). The locals clearly know where peril is posted.

Only saw one human roadside speed trap. It was at the top of a sloped road with two lanes running uphill. Presumably, faster cars were accelerating to get around slower cars crawling uphill.

Some areas are clearly better than others. We tried to be very careful, but it will be a major miracle if our mailbox does not get a souvenir at some point. Beautiful country though...

[LWJ]

I just paid mine this week. Arg. Parking violation in Ravenna. $94 euro + wire transfer fee.