Hidden cameras, bans and big fines

[Schnellmann]

A few years back I got caught on a mountain pass (at 6:30 am) by a hidden camera whilst doing 111kmh (where 80 kmh was allowed). It was pretty expensive - about £600 for fines and costs, plus I got a month's ban and was put on probation (with threat of entry in the dreaded criminal register). Put the wind up me and I've been very careful since.

Was I just very unlucky or have others had similar experiences?

[AndrewD]

Unlucky, I think.

You could ask on englishforum?

[WelshBoyo]

I know 3 people that have been caught speeding and had either 2 weeks to 1 month bans. One had his license confiscated on the spot (and had to get his missus to pick up the car).

Luckily I've only been hit with a 60chf fine for a hidden (actually camouflaged) mobile camera at 5am in the middle of nowhere on the way to the airport - nice.

[Lyons]

I was thinking about this the other day. I've now ammased probably 4-5 low (sub 10kmh over) speeding fines over the last 2 and a half years, which have each cost me about 120chuffs. In the UK I would be over my 12 points. Is there any limit to the amount of fines you can get before you get in more trouble with the autorities?

Recenly heard a horror story from a colleague who was caught doing 120 in a 60. Real heavy handed stuff...

[Schnellmann]

Lyons said:

I was thinking about this the other day. I've now ammased probably 4-5 low (sub 10kmh over) speeding fines over the last 2 and a half years, which have each cost me about 120chuffs. In the UK I would be over my 12 points. Is there any limit to the amount of fines you can get before you get in more trouble with the autorities?

Recenly heard a horror story from a colleague who was caught doing 120 in a 60. Real heavy handed stuff...

If I understand the Swiss system correctly there is no points system and the fines for exceeding speed limits by less than 20 kmh (at least outside of town) are just cash fines so in theory I think you can collect loads and you won't get a follow up. Of course, if you then had a "big one" I don't know whether all the previous, small incursions would be used as evidence of your "bad character"!

What happened to your colleague caught doing 120?

[Lyons]

Ban, fine, etc. Other details wouldn't help on a forum. However its no secret that there is a department who goes after speeders, and they're a lot more enthsiastic if the person caught is driving a high performance car.

Thats what got me thinking about my current 'points' status... I don't try to exceed the limit in CH on main roads, and don't go (to) silly in the Alps, so i hope the 'big one' should never happen.

[Munich]

I remember reading about some young banker guy getting caught at a ridiculous speed in his brand new MB SLS and because of his income he got a MASSIVE fine. The equivalent of US$1,000,000 (that is not a typo)

However, I have a question about paying the fines. In July I got caught by a camera on the motorway doing 139kph and have received a 100€ fine. The thing is, I live in Germany and my car is German registered. If I don't bother to pay the fine, will they chase me?

[WelshBoyo]

Munich said:

I remember reading about some young banker guy getting caught at a ridiculous speed in his brand new MB SLS and because of his income he got a MASSIVE fine. The equivalent of US$1,000,000 (that is not a typo)

Not sure of that one, but the worst I remember was a 1million franc fine or 1 year in jail for 9 cars in a convoy:-
20mins.ch story

[Lyons]

I had another (different) colleague who had an outstanding speeding ticket. At the time he was living/working in Italy. He was actually stopped at passport control at Zurich airport. He wasn't allowed to enter until he'd payed his fine!

[Schnellmann]

Munich said:

I remember reading about some young banker guy getting caught at a ridiculous speed in his brand new MB SLS and because of his income he got a MASSIVE fine. The equivalent of US$1,000,000 (that is not a typo)

However, I have a question about paying the fines. In July I got caught by a camera on the motorway doing 139kph and have received a 100€ fine. The thing is, I live in Germany and my car is German registered. If I don't bother to pay the fine, will they chase me?

The SLS story is correct. He was doing 300 kmh. But the CHF 1 million was the expected or possible fine as per the newspapers. I don't know what the outcome was in court though.

I think Switzerland signed agreements with France and Germany whereby they are supposed to help each
Other in collecting speeding fines from their residents for speeding in the other countries. But not sure if implemented properly.

If they can chase you, I'm sure the Swiss will.

[Carmo99]

Same thing happened to the wife as the OP. Just over 100 in an 80 (after adjustment). Initial fine was 600CHF, no ban but a probabtion period, then further bills arrived over the coming weeks for various other legal costs etc. ended up at well over 1000CHF.

[Munich]

Schnellmann said:

The SLS story is correct. He was doing 300 kmh. But the CHF 1 million was the expected or possible fine as per the newspapers. I don't know what the outcome was in court though.

I think Switzerland signed agreements with France and Germany whereby they are supposed to help each
Other in collecting speeding fines from their residents for speeding in the other countries. But not sure if implemented properly.

If they can chase you, I'm sure the Swiss will.

They have already sent me a reminder through the post, so they are chasing.

[Phil-CH]

Munich said:

They have already sent me a reminder through the post, so they are chasing.

Don't take my word for it, but if you don't pay the bill, you should be ok if you don't intend to come to Switzerland for the next 100 years or so.

Something like this happened to a friend who lives in Germany and he refused to pay the bill, but as a result he never came back to Switzerland. In an attempt to find out more, we did some research. Unfortunately, not much concret, but we heard somewhere that fines 'expire' as well ("verjährt" in german), although one has to be careful. While I think the fine itself at some point expires, the administrative costs do not (or maybe it's the other way around). As I said, don't take my word for it though.

I've heard some horrific stories of a German accumulating a lot of parking fines over the years and never had any trouble entering Switzerland over the border by car. Then one day, many many years later (I think about over 10 years), he arrived by plane at Zurich Airport and was picked up by the police at customs and put into custody without really knowing why. Turned out he was marked because of the various open fines. Not sure how much truth there is to that, but there is a saying that the Swiss never forget.

[MogulBoy]

I have heard it said that 'the French' who commute into Geneva everyday to work and find themselves caught on one of Geneva's traffic cameras but don't pay can get fingered at the border. Presumably this has been an ad-hoc manual process up to now and prizes may have been available to eagle-eyed border guards who raise revenue. However, I did find the below news item which talks about 38 new cameras with numberplate recognition capabilities that are about to be installed to assist in such processes!

http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu/38-cameras-intellige...

P.S. 10 years ago, I moved to Neuchatel for what was supposed to be a 6 month stint and didn't register my UK car. About 9 months in I was arrested (!) whilst driving through town as one of the local police must have spotted my UK plated car and seen a picture of me on the staffroom wall doing 80 in a 50. Hidden camera once again. It was all very amicable but it cost me CHF 1,000 (only GBP400-ish in those days!) and a months' ban. Not long after this they started to 'get tough' and I would expect a 2-3 month ban for such antics these days and possibly even a revenue based fine... As I ended up staying here permanently, I decided to quickly remove my car from the country and sell it back home rather than re-registering it over here just in case the re-registration process uncovered any other unremunerated photo opportunities in one canton or another... Been fairly careful/lucky since then jut a whisker over the limit on two or three occasions.

P.P.S. Back in those days you could choose when you wanted to serve your ban (within a 6 month window ISTR) and thus if you were about to go away on business or holiday for a few weeks, you could hand in your licence then if that suited you! I waited until the ski season was over and I could cycle to work without too much discomfort!

Edited by MogulBoy on Friday 2nd September 14:26

[Munich]

Phil-CH said:

Not sure how much truth there is to that, but there is a saying that the Swiss never forget.

So the Swiss are like elephants? I think I will pay the fine because I like to visit Switzerland quite a lot.

I got a parking fine in Italy a number of years back (by Lake Garda) and decided not to pay it, which I thought was justified because I had actually spoken with the issuing police officer and was under the impression he was going to cancel it. Anyway, from what started out as a 15€ fine fast became 110€ and because I was driving a company car the reminder letters were being sent to my employer who got ever more annoyed with each reminder. From that point on I have always paid any fines I receive from abroad.

I also find Austria is a complete arse when it comes to hidden speed cameras. I usually receive at least 3 speeding fines per year from there!