Speeding Fine arrived by registered post from Swiss police

[bmount]

Hi all

Went for a 4 day skiing trip with my son driving from Zurich into Austria
in a Hertz car but we went a blistering 23kmph over the speed limit
and I received 4 weeks later yeaterday, wait for it, a 647 Swiss Franc (620 Euro)
penalty notice from the Swiss Police and wait for it again, by registered post.

I already noticed a 45 euro "admin charge" on my credit card from Hertz for this and assumed
that was the fine and the end of it.

Clearly this is an outrageously extreme amount of money beyond belief really and
wanted to know how do I avoid paying this or appeal and pay
just what you would expect like 70 euro or something.

Note, the letter is German and I can't even read it and a quick google
tells me I can request it to be in English under EU Law.

Obviously I am on this section of the forum to ask any consumer advice with regard to ignoring
this slightly stressful letter and not get extradited to Switzerland for being a bold boy !

 

[Setanta12]

Query the admin charge first. Doubt this is related.

How do you know what to expect for a traffic-fine in Switzerland? I would request the letter in English.

 

[Cervelo]

"Dont do the crime if you cant do the time"

 

[bmount]

Thanks (?) but its assistance or anyone with previous experience is what I'm looking for.

 

[tommygirl]

We were hit with a French speeding fine on return and our car hire company charged an admin fee also (about €30 if I recall correctly). We were advised this related to providing our information to the authorities.

 

[Bronte]

but we went a blistering 23kmph over the speed limit
and I received 4 weeks later yeaterday, wait for it, a 647 Swiss Franc (620 Euro)
penalty notice from the Swiss Police and wait for it again, by registered post.

I've got fines from a couple of countries, one of which I appealed as I wasn't there.

Here if you go 10 over it's not serious but if you're hitting your 'blistering' 23 over then they whack it on. I had a friend here that went more than 20 over on the motorway on a quiet evening as he didn't notice ! the speed signs (he's a speeder) he says for the road works. He was hit for mega bucks too.

You know you did it as you were a bold boy so I suggest you pay up and make yourself aware that just because your foreign you'll no longer get away with ignoring the law.

For others, there's some new law in France for Paris and Lyon about diesel cars and pollution. And make sure you bring the triangle with you. It's going to be more common for fines to come from other countries.

There is an app for translating things. And OP would want to watch out, if he doesn't pay the fine I think he'll find they can automatically increase it.

 

[Leo]

You picked probably the worst country in the world to speed in, their system of fines is well documented, fines amounts are linked to the limit in effect, how much over the limit you were going and, for locals, your level of income. Remember the €200,000 speeding fine?

40km/h over the limit in a built up area gets you a minimum one year in jail.

If you don't pay the fine, they will pursue Hertz. There's a 30 day limit before the fine increases.

 

[dub_nerd]

Ditto. Have a sibling who spends a lot of time in Switzerland who says the same. Pay the fine unless you plan to avoid Switzerland for the rest of your life. You can't get out of it and it will never go away.

 

[mathepac]

Well done the Swiss traffic cops and Hertz. Pay up and look pleasant OP and in future make yourself aware of local penalties for breaking the traffic laws.

I've never had a speeding ticket but was asked (at 5:00 am!) to park my rental car so that all the wheels were within the lines of the parking space rather than on one.

 

[Leper]

Well done the Swiss traffic cops and Hertz. Pay up and look pleasant OP and in future make yourself aware of local penalties for breaking the traffic laws.

I've never had a speeding ticket but was asked (at 5:00 am!) to park my rental car so that all the wheels were within the lines of the parking space rather than on one.

Well Done! Mathepac. We need more people like you on our roads.

 

[Jim2007]

Went for a 4 day skiing trip with my son driving from Zurich into Austria
in a Hertz car but we went a blistering 23kmph over the speed limit
and I received 4 weeks later yeaterday, wait for it, a 647 Swiss Franc (620 Euro)
penalty notice from the Swiss Police and wait for it again, by registered post.

So you knowingly broke our laws over a period of time? No doubt they have you on several
speed cameras...

I already noticed a 45 euro "admin charge" on my credit card from Hertz for this and assumed
that was the fine and the end of it.

That was probably the fee for handing over your details to the police

Clearly this is an outrageously extreme amount of money beyond belief really and
wanted to know how do I avoid paying this or appeal and pay
just what you would expect like 70 euro or something.

The fine is not that height by our standards. Clearly they have you on file for multiple breaches
and being 23KM over the limit is meaningless as there is a 7 to 10 KM adjustment so you could
have been more like 30KM over the limit. And of course the limit itself has an impact, 30KM in a
60KM zone is far more serious than in say 120KM zone.

Note, the letter is German and I can't even read it and a quick google
tells me I can request it to be in English under EU Law.

Switzerland is not in the EU. So the language applied is the language of the Kanton (county) where
the fine was issued. Since it is in German I expect it was issued in Zurich... In any case you don't
have a right to ask for it in English.

Obviously I am on this section of the forum to ask any consumer advice with regard to ignoring
this slightly stressful letter and not get extradited to Switzerland for being a bold boy !

Switzerland is a civil law country, so thinks like mitigating circumstances etc... are not considered
by the judge. It is black and white, the car was in your possession at the time, so the only out is
to prove you were not driving. If it is the standard form, there should be space to provided details
of the other driver if one exists, as well how to appeal the fine.

Ignoring it is not an option, the great thing about the Swiss bureaucracy is that your fine will wind it's
way through the court system without you, collecting additional penalties, no show fines and interest
until such time as it stops being a civil matter and becomes a criminal one. And that is when things
can get very nasty.

Best advice is to pay up ASAP, before they add more to it.

 

[SirMille]

Were you speeding in a 30kph zone?

I recommend you pay this fine ASAP and accept the admin fee too.

It does sound like you were caught on camera more than once.

By the way, you were 23kph + approx 3% over the posted limit.

A friend of mine was caught speeding in the city, he was offered this, a week in jail or a 1500CHF fine, he took the fine. He now has a criminal record and will never get a Swiss passport.

 

[mathepac]

Well Done! Mathepac. We need more people like you on our roads.

Thanks!
I try to help by reporting speeders, cars parked on footpaths and photographing vehicles illegally in disabled parking bays. I also photograph and report vehicles with "For Sale" signs on the side of the road, those with foreign plates, those which appear to be abandoned. I use in-car video on the move and my phone while on foot. Delighted to help.

 

[Gordon Gekko]

Pay the fine; Switzerland is unusual in that it's not a banana republic in terms of policing or enforcement. They are the proverbial elephant; they will never forget.

 

[Bronte]

Thanks!
I try to help by reporting speeders, cars parked on footpaths and photographing vehicles illegally in disabled parking bays. I also photograph and report vehicles with "For Sale" signs on the side of the road, those with foreign plates, those which appear to be abandoned. I use in-car video on the move and my phone while on foot. Delighted to help.

Thank goodness for you as the Gardai are too busy putting fake figures into the Pulse system.

Jim, the OP is incorrect to suggest that because one is in the EU they are entitled to the document in English. Anyway based on the post it seems they completely understood it and I'm sure it has a bank account to pay on it including the very important reference number to put in when paying, that's very important so they stop this fine blooming.

 

[odyssey06]

One wonders if there's an Ask About Money site in another EU country where they asking what to do with a speeding fine from the Republic of Ireland... I can't imagine out lot are this organized!

 

[Bronte]

One wonders if there's an Ask About Money site in another EU country where they asking what to do with a speeding fine from the Republic of Ireland... I can't imagine out lot are this organized!

Well I'd say they wonder why a mysterious three euro 10 cent appears twice on their credit card bill deducted by hertz, I think it's 2 euro ninty with Avis, Budget give you a brochure on how to pay!!

 

[Leo]

The fine is not that height by our standards. Clearly they have you on file for multiple breaches and being 23KM over the limit is meaningless as there is a 7 to 10 KM adjustment so you could have been more like 30KM over the limit. And of course the limit itself has an impact, 30KM in a 60KM zone is far more serious than in say 120KM zone.

€620 is pretty high by our standards! The link I posted earlier details the escalating scale of fines in place.

 

[Chelseablue]

On the Garda following fines:, a friend of mine who lives in NI was caught speeding in the south, was stopped and his details taken, the guard told him he would receive a fine in the post however if he didn’t pay there was nothing he could do & he wouldn’t be followed. Can’t see the PSNI doing the same up North

 

[dereko1969]

Thanks!
I try to help by reporting speeders, cars parked on footpaths and photographing vehicles illegally in disabled parking bays. I also photograph and report vehicles with "For Sale" signs on the side of the road, those with foreign plates, those which appear to be abandoned. I use in-car video on the move and my phone while on foot. Delighted to help.

Whilst I applaud all of the above, I'm bemused at the focus on foreign plates. It's perfectly legal to continuously drive a foreign registered car here if one keeps ties to one's home country - this can be as little as visiting home once a year.