Speeding Ticket From Germany!!
Discussion
Was bound to happen at some point given all my recent driving on the Continent, but wanted to check if i should/could brush this under the carpet & to a degree if it's likely valid?
Got an email from Enterprise stating the local (Hamburg) rozzers had requested driver details for a speed infringement (59kph in a 50kph zone). No idea if it was a copper, camera or average speed as don't recall being flashed, but also don't recall speeding, however happy to take that on the chin that the crime was committed.
Obviously Enterprise are going to relieve my credit card of a £27 admin fee & they passed my details onto the authorities.
Now the paperwork has arrived from Germany with a clear photo of the driver (defo me) & a load of wording in German which i can't understand, although the odd paragraph is surprisingly in English.
It appears the fine is €20 so no great shakes, however the paragraph i can read as is in English, states i can't pay by debit or credit card & have to pay via bank transfer (not keen on doing this).
Not disputing the offence & not trying to wriggle out of anything, but not keen on doing this via a Bank Transfer & many of the details on the paperwork are impossible to understand.
Now they've got hold of me in writing, would they likely follow up if i ignore the paperwork & thus i should try to translate this paperwork & work out how to pay via bank transfer?
Got an email from Enterprise stating the local (Hamburg) rozzers had requested driver details for a speed infringement (59kph in a 50kph zone). No idea if it was a copper, camera or average speed as don't recall being flashed, but also don't recall speeding, however happy to take that on the chin that the crime was committed.
Obviously Enterprise are going to relieve my credit card of a £27 admin fee & they passed my details onto the authorities.
Now the paperwork has arrived from Germany with a clear photo of the driver (defo me) & a load of wording in German which i can't understand, although the odd paragraph is surprisingly in English.
It appears the fine is €20 so no great shakes, however the paragraph i can read as is in English, states i can't pay by debit or credit card & have to pay via bank transfer (not keen on doing this).
Not disputing the offence & not trying to wriggle out of anything, but not keen on doing this via a Bank Transfer & many of the details on the paperwork are impossible to understand.
Now they've got hold of me in writing, would they likely follow up if i ignore the paperwork & thus i should try to translate this paperwork & work out how to pay via bank transfer?
If you have an iphone, there is a very nifty image-to-text function when using the camera. Use this, grab the text, use one of the online translation functions and read it in your preferred language.
If it was you and you know it and it's just €20 - my view would be to just pay it, for not having to worry about "what if I don't".
If it was you and you know it and it's just €20 - my view would be to just pay it, for not having to worry about "what if I don't".
I live in Germany and had my share of speeding tickets. The format varies from state to state but the German stuff will basically be the legal mumbo jumbo to say what law you broke. A 20€ fine for 1-10km over the limit means the offence must have been out of town (its 30€ in town) but there are no points attached to that fine. After Brexit I don't know if points are transferable anymore, but that isn't relevant in your case anyway.
With regards to payment, there is much less use of debit and credit cards here. Bank transfer is much more common. If you want to pay up I suspect you'll have no alternative than bank transfer, and will effectively be penalised again.
With regards to payment, there is much less use of debit and credit cards here. Bank transfer is much more common. If you want to pay up I suspect you'll have no alternative than bank transfer, and will effectively be penalised again.
I got caught in Germany in summer 2020 - 138kph in a 100 - came through to my wife with me driving.
I filed it in the bin and have heard nothing more....if was only EUR20 I'd have likely paid but reading up, mine was likely to be a lot larger so I did nothing - they cant exactly prove postage and my wife (to whom the letter was addressed) looks nothing like me (thankfully!)
I filed it in the bin and have heard nothing more....if was only EUR20 I'd have likely paid but reading up, mine was likely to be a lot larger so I did nothing - they cant exactly prove postage and my wife (to whom the letter was addressed) looks nothing like me (thankfully!)
Dog Star said:
The OP was driving a hire car, but for those of us in our own UK registered cars - do speeding tickets still come through now we are "properly" out of the EU? ie. this year.
A lot of the sharing of licence information is no longer in place so it is harder for foreign countries to track UK drivers down (and vice versa). However that doesn't mean you are exempt from penalties, like anywhere you are subject of the laws of the land you are in at that time. Not getting a ticket sounds great but it is potentially more inconvenient because you might not be aware of an outstanding penalty, return to the issuing country, find yourself being stopped by the police and suddenly be a awkward situation.The reinstatement of information sharing is being discussed but I suspect it is very low down on the list of priorities.
w8pmc said:
Thanks all, I'll just pay it by Bank transfer & remove any potential future stress.
That's probably best - the fees can sting but it's peace of mind when you next visit.An acquaintance picks up speeding tickets abroad with alarming regularity, and "pays" by posting a cheque in sterling at the FX rate the Post Office is quoting on the day... He's never had a cheque processed (unsurprisingly), and never had a follow up letter but I can't help feeling he's storing up trouble for later!
AIUI you can file them in the bin but it's risky if you intend to use the same car again - obviously this changes with a hire car as they create the link to you. But if using your personal car then you *may* be stopped if you find yourself in the same region with a suitably equipped police car behind you - which is fairly unlikely tbf. Or you could put a private plate on it 
Blimey! €20? Cheap - get it paid
Got done 3 times on successive days out of town by the same hidden camera in Spain last year, in a hire car, luckily no admin charges, but €100 each (discounted to €50 each for prompt payment) for 5, 7 and 8kmh over in an 80 limit.
Really quite peeved there was no tolerance given, as all were 10% or less over the limit, but according to a mate that lives close by the camera a cops wife was killed while she was speeding and overtaking on the stretch so zero tolerance given
Hey ho, at least I can still hire a car there
Got done 3 times on successive days out of town by the same hidden camera in Spain last year, in a hire car, luckily no admin charges, but €100 each (discounted to €50 each for prompt payment) for 5, 7 and 8kmh over in an 80 limit.
Really quite peeved there was no tolerance given, as all were 10% or less over the limit, but according to a mate that lives close by the camera a cops wife was killed while she was speeding and overtaking on the stretch so zero tolerance given
Hey ho, at least I can still hire a car there
w8pmc said:
Thanks all, I'll just pay it by Bank transfer & remove any potential future stress.
Correct decison, I had this from Austria last year (I was an Italian registered rental car and they still found me, the sods) and just coughed up by bank transfer. They took 60 euros off me though so you've done OK with 20!One of the good things the EU did was put a limit of €0.55 on the bank charge for paying Euros from a Euro account.
I work for an importer, and make about 200 payments a month.
The GBP payments to foreign suppliers cost us £12.50 a time, even if they are into a GBP account.
Dollar (Canadian or US) payments cost a similar amount.
Next day Euro payments cost just €0.55.
So, if you or your employer, or any friend, have a Euro bank account, you may find it only costs you about 46p to pay this fee for making excessive progress.
I work for an importer, and make about 200 payments a month.
The GBP payments to foreign suppliers cost us £12.50 a time, even if they are into a GBP account.
Dollar (Canadian or US) payments cost a similar amount.
Next day Euro payments cost just €0.55.
So, if you or your employer, or any friend, have a Euro bank account, you may find it only costs you about 46p to pay this fee for making excessive progress.
I got one from Spain a few years ago and paid it as I plan on travelling in Spain for many years to come so didn't think it was worth the aggro of potentially having a marker against my name should the Police ever need to stop me in the future whilst over there.
That was by bank transfer as well from memory.
That was by bank transfer as well from memory.
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