Photo radar tickets in Europe - Do I pay them?

[Rikao4]

me getting tagged in Stuttgart ...
best you pay quickly..
some places farm out the delinquent fees to collection agencies..
and your Right to operate is suspended..
until they clear you..
cheap tickets with silly incremental fees turns into..

$$$$$

Rika

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

The real outrageous price we paid was for two train tix to the Jungfraujoch - $500. And it was less than hour away from Interlaken, where I got this ticket. Man, that was crazy expensive. But the engineering of those gondolas and trains sort of made it all understandable.

If it makes you feel any better, tickets for the Jungfraujoch look to be about 320 each right now. So, realistically you saved about 140 bucks on your sightseeing trip by going when you did.

Send in the fine and call it a wash and move on.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Rikao4

me getting tagged in Stuttgart ...
best you pay quickly..
some places farm out the delinquent fees to collection agencies..
and your Right to operate is suspended..
until they clear you..
cheap tickets with silly incremental fees turns into..

In this case with Switzerland, they gave me plenty of time to respond - 30 days from the day they mailed the letter, which was Aug. 21. But when I've gotten these in Germany, the notice came in the mail weeks after the fine due date. There was no way to know if paying the fine a month late would be considered paid or short due to undisclosed late fees. Still haven't heard anything about those old ones.

Oh, I got another one in Eisenach, DE, for parking in a very poorly marked handicapped spot. I really had no idea. The ticket on my windshield said it was a warning, but listed the fine as €55 and gave bank wiring instructions. My local friend said a warning means you don't have to pay it. But Budget Rental did hit me with a processing fee for it a few weeks later. Still haven't gotten anything in the mail though.

[shinrai]

I just got a $635 photo radar ticket for doing 20km/hr over the limit in Winnipeg MB.

Pay that ticket you got.

Never go to Manitoba. It's a dump.

[Otter74]

Like others have said, Switzerland is not to be ****ed with, and they make Germans look like Italians.

I’ve gotten a speed camera ticket in Poland - I paid that one because I was in my girlfriend’s uncle’s car and the ticket went to him, and I’m not about to stiff him for something I did.

I got one in France, via the rental agency, and I think I paid it.

I got one two years ago in Spain, direct in the mail from the relevant authority, and I tried to pay it but absolutely could not successfully do it on the web site, or get an answer back when I emailed about it. Eventually I gave up.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

I've had tickets from Oman, Japan, Italy, paid them all

Stopped by the police in Germany, Italy, Montenegro, and Spain but talked my way out of all tickets

Flashed by speed camera in Austra 2x and Italy, no tickets, Germany a few weeks ago so expecting to add a new country to my ticket list

It's all part of the fun of driving abroad and getting a ticket is just an expensive souvenir

[Rick Lee]

Oh man, Poland is nuts these days. You can drive faster there than in Germany, though it's totally illegal and everyone does it.

When i got popped in Austria in the summer of 2022, a plain clothes female cop approached me on foot at a rest stop. She had no badge or ID on her, but was wearing a Glock 17, jeans and a tight t-shirt. I was polite, but firm in my argument that I didn't need an int'l driver license. She said she'd go back to her car and check and, amazingly, the law had changed and she was just gonna nail me for speeding. €20. LOL. I handed her the cash and bid her a nice day.

[red-beard]

61 in a 50 is 22% over the limit. This is like doing 85 mph in a 70 mph zone. Or ~37 mph in a 30 zone. So maybe you were speeding a bit, coasting downhill or not.

No points on your license. Just pay it. Cost of doing business in Switzerland.

[LWJ]

Y'all just reminded me that I may have blasted past a few radar traps in Italy this Spring. So far? Nothing. I will be paying if they show up. Think of the complete mess Italy could spring on you? Ugg.

[Rick Lee]

I think Italy catches you by timing your plate between toll booths. If you think you're too far ahead of schedule, you need to stop at a rest area and have a cup of coffee.

[A930Rocket]

Do any of these international tickets get back to your home state/insurance company?

Little Rocket man and myself hope to make a trip to Europe this summer and will be driving some. Not that we plan on getting tickets though

[javadog]

I've gotten tickets before when driving a rental car (Cali) and they charged it to the rental car company who then came after me.

No idea if that applies to rental car in Switzerland, I'm assuming you were in a rental.

[blucille]

Originally Posted by LWJ

Y'all just reminded me that I may have blasted past a few radar traps in Italy this Spring. So far? Nothing. I will be paying if they show up. Think of the complete mess Italy could spring on you? Ugg.

took the Italians 6 months to send me the first ticket, and then another 6 months and two more arrived one day after the other. All under $100.

[Rick Lee]

Budget Rental hits my credit card for €29 every time they get a violation for the car during the time I had it. I've gotten five of those charges so far, but only one ticket in the mail. So, if Budget pays it and hits my credit card for the CHF120, then I should be off the hook for it.

[Deschodt]

Just be grateful Europe is not telling your DMV/insurance company.. Switzerland is THE worst in terms of enforcement and tracking you down. If you'd said Italy, meh... I think the rental car charge you get is a processign fee for having them tattle tell on you, not the fine. Hurts eh ?

Come to think of it in most of Europe that I know of (based on personal exp or friends), the tickets give your points against your license but do NOT affect insurance. We're getting screwed here by the insurance getting chummy with the DMVs/police, however that works state to state..

Incidentally, I bought a cheap 80s hatchback in Europe recently and left it there until I figure things out, they don't know me form a hole in the ground, no driving history that matters, zero good driver discount, and the insurance bill with full coverage is like 1/4 of my USA cars of similar value - by the time I have had no accidents for a year it will be like 1/8th... I guess people aren't suing as much there ? That's another tangent beef now but I increasingly feel we're really getting screwed on a lot of things in the US after my month in Europe, there must be some interesting collusion... Looks like the post Covid "Price hike on everything" did not happen there as much ! The cost of groceries is horrendous here (2x to 3x, and often for crappier products), makes no sense to me, it's not like minimum wage is awesome in the US... Seems some billionaires are robbing us blind on everything and we're letting it happen...

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Incidentally, I bought a cheap 80s hatchback in Europe recently and left it there until I figure things out, they don't know me form a hole in the ground, no driving history that matters, zero good driver discount, and the insurance bill with full coverage is like 1/4 of my USA cars of similar value - by the time I have had no accidents for a year it will be like 1/8th... I guess people aren't suing as much there ? That's another tangent beef now but I increasingly feel we're really getting screwed on a lot of things in the US after my month in Europe, there must be some interesting collusion... Looks like the post Covid "Price hike on everything" did not happen there as much ! The cost of groceries is horrendous here (2x to 3x, and often for crappier products), makes no sense to me, it's not like minimum wage is awesome in the US... Seems some billionaires are robbing us blind on everything and we're letting it happen...

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!

[Cloggie]

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!

You definitely cannot buy a car, get it registered or get it insured in the Netherlands without being registered to a community and being exposed to Dutch taxes.

You can register as a non-citizen, but there are other requirements like work visa and similar before you can do that.

D.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

You were in Switzerland, what USA tolerates/does is irrelevant

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Yes, I realize this. Just find it hard to believe such a tiny infraction is so expensive there.

Said Brittney Griner.

_

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Cloggie

You definitely cannot buy a car, get it registered or get it insured in the Netherlands without being registered to a community and being exposed to Dutch taxes.

You can register as a non-citizen, but there are other requirements like work visa and similar before you can do that.

D.

I bought a bike in Germany in 1991, but I had resident and labor permits, so I was able to register it to my address there. But it's gotten silly to the extent that you now need a local address to even buy a SIM card for a cell phone.

[1990C4S]

From another thread:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I wear Rolexes all the time...

(Plural? Like you wear one on each wrist, or you have several?)

Followed by possibly avoiding a $141 ticket that you got...hmmm.

Pay it and move on.