Four Brits Face Harsh Penalties for Speeding
Discussion
Four British men could face up to 4 years! in jail and have their sports cars confiscated for speeding in Switzerland.
https://www.thelocal.ch/20240617/speeding-brits-ha...
https://www.thelocal.ch/20240617/speeding-brits-ha...
cherryowen said:
You can tell how draconian Swiss roads policing is - IME the fastest cars on European motorways outside Switzerland all have "CH" on the back!
When i was living on the Italian border they were renowned for their speeding and parking. They know they can get away with it.Everybody knows the Swiss live for rules, when in Switzerland at least. I'd never go stupidly over the limit when there.
CLK-GTR said:
When i was living on the Italian border they were renowned for their speeding and parking. They know they can get away with it.
Everybody knows the Swiss live for rules, when in Switzerland at least. I'd never go stupidly over the limit when there.
I frequently drive there on business. It's rare to see a marked police car but they do have a fleet of unmarked BMW 5 series Tourings so beware.Everybody knows the Swiss live for rules, when in Switzerland at least. I'd never go stupidly over the limit when there.
If you want to take the piss then Switzerland is not the place to do it.
zzrman said:
I frequently drive there on business. It's rare to see a marked police car but they do have a fleet of unmarked BMW 5 series Tourings so beware.
If you want to take the piss then Switzerland is not the place to do it.
The Ticino police are creatures of habit and always frequent the same spots, you get to know them after a while. My favourite was the bridge where they'd wait to get people crossing the solid white line when changing lanes a couple of metres before it ended. If you want to take the piss then Switzerland is not the place to do it.
MOBB said:
JulianHJ said:
Isn't it common knowledge that the Swiss have a zero tolerance approach to speeding?
ExactlyIt's not hard to research.
I love the country, but it is also where your neighbour will report you the police for speeding in the village. Or any other number of violations.
Just come back from holiday in Europe. The Belgiums are just generally not very good at driving. The italians are insane and aggressive behind the wheel. The Swiss like to tailgate you really close even though you are doing a bit over the speed limit (GPS figure).
Then when you indicate and pull over they won't pass until you stop. They then carry on driving at the same speed as before, not faster. That's a real good way to encourage people to come to your country and spend money.
If the Swiss are as hot as I've heard about speeding I don't understand what is going on here
Then when you indicate and pull over they won't pass until you stop. They then carry on driving at the same speed as before, not faster. That's a real good way to encourage people to come to your country and spend money.
If the Swiss are as hot as I've heard about speeding I don't understand what is going on here
Metric Max said:
They then carry on driving at the same speed as before, not faster. That's a real good way to encourage people to come to your country and spend money.
If the Swiss are as hot as I've heard about speeding I don't understand what is going on here
They don't like speeding or other violations. It is your neighbour that is likely to report you for something, even a minor thing.If the Swiss are as hot as I've heard about speeding I don't understand what is going on here
if you want to speed in Switzerland, find a valley that doesn't go anywhere and do a sighting run first, and don't speed through the villages or you mind find the police waiting for you at the bottom on your return.
Swiss go to France, Germany and Italy to speed.
Metric Max said:
Just come back from holiday in Europe. The Belgiums are just generally not very good at driving. The italians are insane and aggressive behind the wheel. The Swiss like to tailgate you really close even though you are doing a bit over the speed limit (GPS figure).
Then when you indicate and pull over they won't pass until you stop. They then carry on driving at the same speed as before, not faster. That's a real good way to encourage people to come to your country and spend money.
If the Swiss are as hot as I've heard about speeding I don't understand what is going on here
Hah - I live in Switzerland, and yes following distance is an anathema. I think to some degree it's a combination of trying to not lose any time (that's the culture here) combined with trying to minimise fines and therefore eeking out the tolerances on speed cameras. Also the fines don't scale linearly: https://www.ch.ch/en/travel-and-emigrate/holidays-... . 1-5km/h is cheap, 6-10 starts hurting, and you don't want to get near 20.Then when you indicate and pull over they won't pass until you stop. They then carry on driving at the same speed as before, not faster. That's a real good way to encourage people to come to your country and spend money.
If the Swiss are as hot as I've heard about speeding I don't understand what is going on here
They also don't care how close you are behind either: even on a quiet Sunday morning on the motorway I had multiple drivers swerve in very close in front of me after an overtake - no cars whatsoever in the vicinity, minimal speed difference because I was at around the limit.
vaud said:
They don't like speeding or other violations. It is your neighbour that is likely to report you for something, even a minor thing.
Never been reported for anything yet... The Swiss are actually very conflict avoidant in general. 200km/h on the motorway is going to be quite a shock to anyone.But to combine the two: they're putting up more and more following-distance cameras on the motorway here, I think that's a pretty good thing actually.
sunnyb13 said:
As long as the cars are on finance, the authorities will have to return the cars
It's nuanced - links in German: https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/auch-geleaste-fahrzeuge... which references federal court case https://www.bger.ch/ext/eurospider/live/de/php/aza... .They don't have to return it if the driver is still likely to have access to the vehicle. It'll be up to the owners to figure out how to get it back.
Alickadoo said:
Four British men could face up to 4 years! in jail and have their sports cars confiscated for speeding in Switzerland.
https://www.thelocal.ch/20240617/speeding-brits-ha...
Idiots.https://www.thelocal.ch/20240617/speeding-brits-ha...
No sympathy from me.
I have driven in Switzerland numerous times recently, and had no issues at all. Just drive carefully, courteously, and stick to the speed limits like any normal person. I found Switzerland very pleasant to drive in.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff