Speeding in Switzerland

Hi all,

This is kind of on topic because lots of us drive when going skiing even if only in hire cars from the airport.

Anyway, yesterday I got a letter (in French so I don't fully understand it yet) telling me i was caught on camera speeding on a Swiss motorway (Geneva to Zermatt). The offense was in March 08 yes 08. There were two of us in the car and we were both insured to drive and did take turns so who knows who was driving!

Does anyone have experience of this? I have a feeling if I don't own up and pay up I will get arrested next time I go through Geneva airport which happens to be in two weeks time.

Any ideas?

Mike3000 wrote:Hi all,

This is kind of on topic because lots of us drive when going skiing even if only in hire cars from the airport.

Anyway, yesterday I got a letter (in French so I don't fully understand it yet) telling me i was caught on camera speeding on a Swiss motorway (Geneva to Zermatt). The offense was in March 08 yes 08. There were two of us in the car and we were both insured to drive and did take turns so who knows who was driving!

Does anyone have experience of this? I have a feeling if I don't own up and pay up I will get arrested next time I go through Geneva airport which happens to be in two weeks time.

Any ideas?

Not sure what the Swiss laws are like, but in the UK you are entitled to ask for evidence of who was driving. If they cant show it to you, you dont have to own up over here.

Mike,
I don't really know anything about this subject at all, but here are my thoughts on it.

I suppose you could contact someone like the AA, even if you don't belong, and ask them, or the Citizens Advice Bureau, or the car hire firm, to check on the regulations.

How much is the fine? If it's not too much, and you're sure it's genuine, you could just pay it. I daresay, if you were taking it in turns driving, you were probably both speeding, and you were lucky enough to only get caught once! But I don't suppose whoever you were driving with, would be prepared to pay half the fine, unless they're a particularly good friend.

In any case, if it was me, I'd check the regulations first (and get the French properly translated!). It might turn out, for example, that they can't prove it was you but if you pay then you are admitting liability and they might do something else to you as well.

Ally

Some interesting info here:

http://www.englishforum.ch/transportation-driving/1446-how-do-speeding-fines-work-switzerland.html


I worked in Valais for many years but was lucky not to have been caught speeding. My experience with the Swiss police/authorities suggests not to get on the wrong side of them if at all possible. Is it worth all the worry not to pay the fine?

Two years ago, I received a letter from the police in Kitsbuhle, stating I had been caught on camera when entering Fieberbrun. I actually remembered seeing the two cops with a radar gun, but hadn't thought I was speeding. We are only talking about 55/50 kph.

I was so proud of getting this fine, I gave my son the gelt, 24 euros. He was heading off to Halstadt for a summer walking holiday, and he duly paid my fine.

Dave Mac wrote:Two years ago, I received a letter from the police in Kitsbuhle, stating I had been caught on camera when entering Fieberbrun. I actually remembered seeing the two cops with a radar gun, but hadn't thought I was speeding. We are only talking about 55/50 kph.

I was so proud of getting this fine, I gave my son the gelt, 24 euros. He was heading off to Halstadt for a summer walking holiday, and he duly paid my fine.

We were talking about speeding in your car, Dave, not on your skis......

Skiing at 55kph would not not qualify as speeding.

The authorities have your UK address. You will have been given a date by which you should pay the fine. If you ignore it, you will incur interest and an outstanding judgement will be entered against your name, along with the amount unpaid. Last time I enetered GVA all passports from non Schengen arrivals were being checked on computer lists. You would probably get in by road crossing okay. In Switzerland traffic speeding fines do not add up to points on your licence (generally).