Latest posts for the topic "Austria - speeding tickets"

Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:12:41 GMT

Just back from Kaprun. We drove down from Munich in a hire car and think we were flashed by a speed camera :evil: (in a village just before Kaprun)

Can anybody confirm whether the Austrian authorities will be able to send the fine to the hire company in Germany? Will the car hire company pay the fine and charge our credit card? Also, any idea of the level of fine? Not sure what speed we were doing (not mad fast) but possibly as much as 20kph over the limit (late at night with nobody about).

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 08:17:31 GMT

Oh dear :( Our household has experience of the Swiss way of managing foreigners speeding in hire cars. The registration of the vehicle identifies it as a hire car, so the company is contacted.
The hire car co. hand over your address and charge you an Admin fee for doing this.
You get a Fine by post sent to your home address, along with details of how to pay it.

You might be fortunate if the camera had run out of film )

Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:42:30 GMT

Wanderer wrote:Just back from Kaprun. We drove down from Munich in a hire car and think we were flashed by a speed camera :evil: (in a village just before Kaprun)

Can anybody confirm whether the Austrian authorities will be able to send the fine to the hire company in Germany? Will the car hire company pay the fine and charge our credit card? Also, any idea of the level of fine? Not sure what speed we were doing (not mad fast) but possibly as much as 20kph over the limit (late at night with nobody about).

if the camera was live, you'll get the bill and as Bandit says, plus an additional admin fee from the hire company for working out it was you driving.
Basically, if you're in charge of a hire car and you incur any traffic penalties, you pay the bill.
In addition, Europe-wide the authorities are now sharing driver info and will pass endorsements and fines on.
Its not a case of getting away with it now if you avoid the Gendarmes unfortunately.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:05:01 GMT

If the hire company do not have branches in Austria then you will probably get away with it.

if they do the hire company will probably charge your credit card for the fine

You could try telling your credit card company you lost your card and so all new charges will noot be honoured.

You won't get extradited but if you do get a fine and don't pay it then nothing will happen but you probably need to keep out of Austria for a few years and probably not use the hire company for a while

You will not get any endorsements

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:21:09 GMT

In short the only way you will have to pay it is if the care hire company do so on your behalf using the credit card details you gave them.

There are no powers to effectively collect speeding fines as speeding, not normally being an arrestable offence, can't be persued through the UK courts.

A number of third party companies try to collect speeding fines on behalf of foreign countries but they have no legal powers to enforce payment in the UK & rely on you paying up. They send a variety of official sounding threatening letters but a reply of "Oh how interesting" tends to make them go away when they realise they are not getting you to cough up.

There are plans afoot to change the law across Europe make speeding fines pan-european but they haven't gone ahead yet.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:46:26 GMT

I was caught doing 5kph over the limit in Fieberbrunn. The Notification was routed from the local Austrian police through the Avis Munich office, and on to me with a 20 Euro fee for Avis. I arranged to pay the 40 Eu fine directly, as my son was conveniently travelling to the Salzburg lakes, and he paid in through a bank.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:50:56 GMT

And the Morel to these stories are don't speed and be aware of speed limits of the countries you are visiting.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:57:52 GMT

andymol2 wrote:In short the only way you will have to pay it is if the care hire company do so on your behalf using the credit card details you gave them.

There are no powers to effectively collect speeding fines as speeding, not normally being an arrestable offence, can't be persued through the UK courts.

.

F! We paid a speeding fine of Euro80 as we were advised to but in my difference I was not driving

Ian Wickham wrote:And the Morel to these stories are don't speed and be aware of speed limits of the countries you are visiting.

I so admire these saints who tell use not to speed, it is all to easy especially in a hire car to creep over the limit, well for me it is.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:56:05 GMT

Bonfire wrote:

andymol2 wrote:In short the only way you will have to pay it is if the care hire company do so on your behalf using the credit card details you gave them.

There are no powers to effectively collect speeding fines as speeding, not normally being an arrestable offence, can't be persued through the UK courts.

.

F! We paid a speeding fine of Euro80 as we were advised to but in my difference I was not driving

Ian Wickham wrote:And the Morel to these stories are don't speed and be aware of speed limits of the countries you are visiting.

I so admire these saints who tell use not to speed, it is all to easy especially in a hire car to creep over the limit, well for me it is.

Thank you I have never been called a saint before, I guess you must be right. Remember don't speed or at least don't get caught.
A saints tip ...... use your Tom Tom it will warn you when there is a camera

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 08:39:18 GMT

Ian Wickham wrote:
A saints tip ...... use your Tom Tom it will warn you when there is a camera

A tip from a sinner....

Don't use Wickers tip in Switzerland or risk being arrested and having your Sat-Nav confiscated.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:25:11 GMT

bandit wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:
A saints tip ...... use your Tom Tom it will warn you when there is a camera

A tip from a sinner....

Don't use Wickers tip in Switzerland or risk being arrested and having your Sat-Nav confiscated.

Well I can answer that one as you most possible know I get stopped at swiss customs when ever I enter the dam country and they are normally very rude, last time searching a case they pulled out a pair of Mrs W's knickers, they have never picked me up on having a Tom Tom on display, and so far because I am a saint I have never been stopped by the Swiss police but when ever I park up I have all the sat nav holder etc on display so anyway technically bandit is correct but I don't really think it is high up on the swiss police agenda, or is it they are so embarrassed by the behaviour of their customs staff that they turn a blind eye :thumbup:

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:35:44 GMT

Hang on, a minute you two, you seem to know what you're talking about, but I am totally confused.

Do you mean you're not allowed to use a Tom Tom in Switzerland? How are you supposed to find your way around then?

And, on the speeding issue, I always try, very conscientiously, not to speed, but sometimes I get confused when they keep changing the speed limit from 30 to 40 etc. in a very short stretch of road, or when they don't put reminders up for ages and I forget what the last one said, here in the U.K. and I end up accidentally speeding. But I've never been caught yet. So I reckon everyone speeds at some time, accidentally or not.

Ally

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:02:48 GMT

AllyG wrote:Hang on, a minute you two, you seem to know what you're talking about, but I am totally confused.

Do you mean you're not allowed to use a Tom Tom in Switzerland? How are you supposed to find your way around then?

And, on the speeding issue, I always try, very conscientiously, not to speed, but sometimes I get confused when they keep changing the speed limit from 30 to 40 etc. in a very short stretch of road, or when they don't put reminders up for ages and I forget what the last one said, here in the U.K. and I end up accidentally speeding. But I've never been caught yet. So I reckon everyone speeds at some time, accidentally or not.

Ally

Ally. I thought you only ever travel into Europe by train, so why worry about it?

Also, how can you get confused about a speed limit when there are signs to tell what the limit is, and what is this "keep changing the speed limit" you refer to? The only place I have seen limits change are on motorways with variable limits in place.

By the way, you CAN be tracked down in the UK from as speeding fine in Europe and be sent a bill to pay - I know people who were flashed on French speed cameras and received a letter in the post with an invoice.

I think its something totally different if you get stopped by the police abroad, as they have the right to fine you there and then. In fact, in Spain, they legally have the right to compound your vehicle and put you in a cell for a traffic offence, so do check your insurance includes bail bonds for Spain!!!!

As for suggesting don't speed - I always used to tear around the roads well in excess of the limits, knowingly, but now I run a transportation business I simply cannot do that or run the risk of being fined or taking endorsements, so I do literally set cruise control at the limit of the road I am on. Interestingly, I have noticed how erratic most other drivers are in not keeping up a constant speed, and also how irritated people get when they come up behind a vehicle complying to the n'th degree with the speed limit in place. I used to be one of those people mind you.

But as for people telling me they get confused about what a speed limit is......see how that stands up in court!

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:26:07 GMT

Tony,
If you were to drive around here, you would see what I mean about speed limits changing. We have 20, say, followed by 30, then 40, then 30, then 60 etc. etc. There was one that had me baffled for about a year, once, until a driving examiner in my French class told me what it meant. It was a 30 sign on a very dangerous double bend section of a B road which was otherwise a 60 limit, and it didn't have a sign the other side of it to say the limit was returning to the national speed limit. It turned out it was only an advisory sign - I've never seen one of those before!

Another thing I have seen here is where they forget to take down the old sign when they put up new signs with a different speed limit.

I have also driven in Australia, on the motorway and rural roads, and again, they kept changing the speed limit for very little reason as far as I could tell.

And like you, I really can't afford to lose my driving license as I live in a rural area with a very poor public transport system. So I am extremely careful not to speed (or indeed break any other traffic regulation!).

I hope the OP is lucky and he gets away without a fine :D

Ally

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:34:41 GMT

AllyG wrote:Tony,
If you were to drive around here, you would see what I mean about speed limits changing. We have 20, say, followed by 30, then 40, then 30, then 60 etc. etc.
Ally

If there is a speed limit, there will be a sign to tell you what it is. By changing limits you are clearly referring to a stretch of road where speed limits come into play for different reasons: 20 where there may be a school or built up area with crossings or traffic calming for example, 30 for town centre and normal residential areas, 40 where you might be driving through a village for instance, 60 being the national speed limit on single carriageway roads unless otherwise marked......I dont believe that you are telling me that the authorities try to confuse you by regularly changing the limits on the same piece of road.
Bottom line is if there is a sign with a red circle around it, thats the limit and you should not go over it, and you can and will be prosecuted if you are caught exceeding the limit in these areas, same as when you do above 60mph when you have passed the national speed limit sign on single carriageway (white circle with a black diagonal stripe in case you were "confused")

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 12:27:52 GMT

AllyG wrote:Hang on, a minute you two, you seem to know what you're talking about, but I am totally confused.

Do you mean you're not allowed to use a Tom Tom in Switzerland? How are you supposed to find your way around then?

Ally

From the AA's European Driving Pages for Switzerland

A GPS based navigation system which has maps indicating the location of fixed speed cameras must have the 'fixed speed camera PoI (Points of Interest)' function deactivated.
Radar detectors are prohibited even if not switched on.

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/touring_tips/switzerland-liechtenstein.pdf

The Swiss now make extensive use of overhead gantries on motorways to vary speed limits using electronic displays. On some of them as you pass under the gantry, you can see that the other side is a speed camera.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:02:27 GMT

bandit wrote:

AllyG wrote:

Ally

From the AA's European Driving Pages for Switzerland

A GPS based navigation system which has maps indicating the location of fixed speed cameras must have the 'fixed speed camera PoI (Points of Interest)' function deactivated.
Radar detectors are prohibited even if not switched on.

Detectors are illegal to use in many countries including Germany and Spain. Possessing them is illegal in many more countries including France, Finland, Belgium

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:24:26 GMT

bandit wrote:

The Swiss now make extensive use of overhead gantries on motorways to vary speed limits using electronic displays. On some of them as you pass under the gantry, you can see that the other side is a speed camera.

These can also be found on the M1, M25, M42, and M60 that I know of, and a lot of these gantry's have fixed speed cameras in.
I noticed one going off on the M1 southbound near Luton the other week as I was driving north so I know they work, and I also know of several people who have received fixed penalty notices in the post after being caught doing 70mph on the M42 and M25 whilst the signs were set to 60 on the overheads. One of these was my mother in law, who somewhat stupidly told me she "didn't see any sign saying 60" hahaha
I think they're pretty visible, personally.

Re:Austria - speed cameras

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 14:53:02 GMT

Oops, I may have done it again :oops:.

Driving down from Munich to Mayrhofen last week, a red light flashed in front of me (near Kufstein) and I am concerned that this may have been a speed camera. I know that normally you see a bright white light flash from behind so this was unusual. Does anybody know if the Austrian's use a different form of camera?

Form some reason, the speed limit on the motorway on the Austrian side, according to the overhead gantries was 100kph while my TomTom was indicating 130kph. The roads were dry and clear so it was not clear to my why the lower limit was in place. In any event, this left me a little confused and obviously, I preferred to believe my seriously out of date Tomtom :roll: so it is possible that I might have been doing a little more than the 100kph indicated on the signs :hunf:.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 16:54:03 GMT

Yep - speed camera.

Re:Austria - speeding tickets

Sun, 26 Mar 2017 08:34:25 GMT

Bonfire wrote:

andymol2 wrote:In short the only way you will have to pay it is if the care hire company do so on your behalf using the credit card details you gave them.

There are no powers to effectively collect speeding fines as speeding, not normally being an arrestable offence, can't be persued through the UK courts.

.

F! We paid a speeding fine of Euro80 as we were advised to but in my difference I was not driving

Ian Wickham wrote:And the Morel to these stories are don't speed and be aware of speed limits of the countries you are visiting.

I so admire these saints who tell use not to speed, it is all to easy especially in a hire car to creep over the limit, well for me it is.

Oh he's no saint trust me.