Photo radar tickets in Europe - Do I pay them?
 

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?

100% pay if you're ever thinking of returning to Switzerland as Swiss authorities don't mess around, ruthlessly efficient too

Switzerland is the one country I never speed in when visiting as they take speeding very seriously so count yourself lucky you got away with a cheap ticket

$141 sounds like a cheap speeding ticket to me.

Especially for a jet-setting baller like you! :D

For 6 km/h over? In the US you have to be going 11 mph or 19 km/h over before the camera even flashes. And a cop wouldn't even think of pulling someone over for that.

Pay it, just hold your nose and consider it part of the experience. I think if you know what canton the ticket came from they have an online portal you can use to pay with credit card. Let me know if I can help with that.

Broadly speaking, lately things have gotten more integrated, I used to blow off some tickets I got while driving a rental car, but then the rental car companies such as Sixt and Enterprise started pursuing me directly as the authorities are demanding their pound of flesh from them if they don't get it out of me.

They started by sending me a notice to pay with an exorbitant admin fees about which I *****ed as did others I am sure.

Then they just started charging it to my credit card, which I am sure others *****ed about as well, considering corporate credit cards and all.

Now they apparently just give my personal info - including passport apparently to the authorities who contact me directly....so they have my info, so I pay - but at least no admin fees.

I know there is a growing level of communication between the various traffic authorities and if you chose not to pay, you may find yourself subject to a warrant of arrest which means when you enter Europe the border guys will identify it.
I know our Marechaussee have zero sense of humour and if there is a Swiss warrant flagged on your passport, they will put you in holding if not turn you around and send you home.

The reverse is also true. Colleague of mine stacked up Canadian traffic and parking tickets for years, laughed them off. Then the Canadian authorities wized up and put out a warrant.....and he got stopped at a routine Check Stop, rental car impounded and he got to spend a night as a guest of the Arsey Empee.
He to pay them ALL off plus interest, plus an additional fine. He was out out a few thousand by the time it was all done.
I suspect that the rental car companies also spilled the beans on the driver.....

D.

I suspect it depends upon where you are. I assume police in those countries treat kph like our cops treat mph. You're probably pretty unlikely to get a ticket for 6mph over in the US, but maybe if you're in a 35mph zone or it's the end of the month and the cop hasn't met his quota. It can happen. I've heard of folks getting pulled over for less. In those cases, I'm assuming the cop wants to pull over a specific person and is "looking for a reason".

I have very little experience with speed cameras.

Speeding tickets in my experience don't come cheap. In my little local town, a speeding ticket fine starts at $220 (0-10mph over) and goes up from there.

You should go back to Switzerland and make that argument with the Swiss Magistrate where you got the ticket. You'll probably get the ticket thrown out.

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

Swiss hide speed camera's in parked car doors

Like I said they don't mess about, count yourselve lucky they gave you some free kph

In reading some more on this, it looks like they have a three yr statute of limitations on this stuff in Switzerland. No chance I'll go back there in that time frame. I'll definitely be in Germany and Austria, but I'm not worried there. In fact, in 2022 I was stopped in German rental car by police in Austria. They found nothing about those old unpaid tix in German and I just paid that cop in cash for the infraction for which they stopped me there, near Graz. I got flagged down by border patrol in June crossing the bridge from Austria back into Germany, but they didn't ask for my ID, just wanted to chat. Never been hassled upon entry at any German airport for those unpaid tix.

Yes, I realize this. Just find it hard to believe such a tiny infraction is so expensive there. I was never once in a hurry or intentionally speeding there and I got passed by lots of cars. I have several close friends in Germany who are cops, even one who has had his DL suspended for too many radar camera tix. They all say there's some wiggle room before they'll even issue those camera tix. So you can get flashed and never receive one.

Nah, it's a compliance thing, same as here.

They give you the free kmh's on the grounds that if you are good obedient citizen you would be within that tolerance - since you are over their generous wiggle room, you are now a miscreant who is deliberately flaunting their most excellent laws.

If were a Dutch ticket, you could argue till the cows come home and you'd still pay the fine - now with added court costs - on the grounds that you were obviously deliberately speeding over a generous tolerance.

The Dutch police - like the humans - will rarely pull you over for speed, they leave that to the cameras, the humans are generally looking for stupid behaviour like passing on the right, hogging the left lane, diving to an exit lane etc.
Don't do dumb **** and don't whiz past them at 40 over the limit and they will leave you alone.

I suspect the Swiss have decided what is safe for that stretch of road and that's the deal. You were over, pay the damned fine and learn your lesson.

D.

I think that's a cheap price to pay to make a problem go away. You never know the EU laws may change and you arrive in Holland and find there is a warrant out for your arrest for not paying Swiss fines. And you pay the fine, penalties and for a lawyer.

You weren't 6 over. You were 11 over. They cut you some slack and gave 5 forgiveness. .

Just because it is a certain way in the US doesn't mean it is the same in others countries.

If you don't pay it just be sure you don't get caught again in the future.

$140 vs. the chance of getting stopped at customs and having your day ruined anywhere in Europe? I’ve met cheaper people than you, Rick…I just can’t remember when.

Similar story from our trip to France in 2015. 8 or 9 over, 5 kph grace so a fine of about 45Euro if I recall. I paid it immediately, as I knew we would be back at some point and didn't want any surprises. If I look at it against all the times I may have been, shall we say, outside the allowance, I got off cheap. There are some fantastic roads over there!

Best
Les

I have been caught in other countries especially in Canada by the cameras. I jsut pay it and be done with it because I was at fault. Not I don't feel so bad as I am always 15-20 over on our roads. Is this a great place or what. It sound like one can forget driving fast over their roads in Europe.

Have you thought of calling the US Embassy in Switzerland and launching a protest under the "I'm an a American, (I can do whatever I want/it's not like this in the US/it's not fair) overseas" doctrine?

$140 is nothing and it's for something you actually did.

The price of two beers in Switzerland.

Send them a package of Nathans Hot Dogs from USA!

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.

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..

$$$$$

Rikahttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1725303555.jpg

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

Said Brittney Griner.

_

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.

From another thread:

(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.