Austria - speeding tickets

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.

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F! We paid a speeding fine of €80 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

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.

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:

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

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!

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

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")

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.