Swiss speeding ticket, 45km/h over

[daytonarhymes]

I was contacted by a met police officer last month who was assisting the Swiss authorities regarding a speeding offence all the way from last November.

As you may know, Swiss fines are linked to your income. According to this http://www.englishforum.ch/transportation-driving/... a speed excess of 35-39 kmh equates to 15 x daily income, and 40+ is court determined.

I honestly do not know if myself or my wife would have been driving. I need to provide a statement to give to the Swiss authorities to confirm who was driving. I asked the met police officer for photographic evidence and if she could let me know when the when the camera was last calibrated, information which she was not able to provide.

Does anyone know what the best course of action to take would be? Additionally, is the fine based on your income at the time of the offence or your current income? I was working back then, am not currently at the moment but will be next month.

cheers

[Motorrad]

daytonarhymes said:

I was contacted by a met police officer last month who was assisting the Swiss authorities regarding a speeding offence all the way from last November.

As you may know, Swiss fines are linked to your income. According to this http://www.englishforum.ch/transportation-driving/... a speed excess of 35-39 kmh equates to 15 x daily income, and 40+ is court determined.

I honestly do not know if myself or my wife would have been driving. I need to provide a statement to give to the Swiss authorities to confirm who was driving. I asked the met police officer for photographic evidence and if she could let me know when the when the camera was last calibrated, information which she was not able to provide.

Does anyone know what the best course of action to take would be? Additionally, is the fine based on your income at the time of the offence or your current income? I was working back then, am not currently at the moment but will be next month.

cheers

The Met police chasing up Swiss speeding fines?

I think I'd have just have just told them I had no idea what they were talking about.

from this website:http://zurichexpats.com/speeding-in-switzerland-they-will-get-you-and-you-will-pay/

"If you are driving your own car when caught speeding, the Swiss authorities will contact your local Driving authority for your postal address and write to you directly. You can choose to ignore it but this is not wise. This will make you a criminal in Switzerland which is fine if you can guarantee you will never return but if you do come back to Switzerland, you will run into a lot of trouble if you were stopped by the police for any reason."

As long as I didn't have to return there in the same vehicle I reckon I'd just ignore it. I'm amazed the Met would get involved. It's not any of their business

Edited by Motorrad on Wednesday 7th November 17:04

[aw51 121565]

GMP were using their in-car ANPR to help chase up unpaid parking penalty charge notices on behalf of a firm of bailiffs in 2008. They soon stopped...

Presume the Met are also acting beyond their jurisdiction? Oops?

[Motorrad]

It seems I was wrong according to this......

'Don't Think You'll Speed Undeterred

If you get fined but not stopped (e.g. caught by a Speed Camera) the police will send you the fine even if you live abroad. In Switzerland, speeding is not a violation of a traffic code but a Legal Offence, if you fail to comply there is a good chance that an international rogatory will be issued and you have to go to court in your home country. This is enforced by most countries, including all of Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and many countries in South America and Asia. Failure to comply can result in a warrant being issued for your arrest by your home country.

Also, starting from 2007, Switzerland banned all GPS appliances with built-in speed cameras databases as they are equipped with "Radar Detectors".

According to some GPS navigator producers, it is advised to remove the Swiss radar database while driving in the country as the police may give you a fine and impound your device even if it is turned off and placed in the trunk of your vehicle!


I won't be driving in Switzerland any time soon.......mostly because their country is too expensive. I'll stick to Austria!

[daytonarhymes]

the Met police are just acting in liaisons and have no power to do anything.

My initial inclination was to do the same and just leave it. However it was exceeding the limit by a decent whack and reading around, the Swiss seem to have elephant memories (have heard of people being picked up by police after flying into Swiss aiports over traffic offences many years earlier).

[krallicious]

I am very surprised you have heard anything. The Swiss have an information exchange with France and Germany but not the UK. If you are planning on going back in the same car then pay it but if not then you will not have to pay although the chances of you being pulled at the boarder for an offence is very small. Where were you caught out of interest?

Edit. Just read that you have actually entered into a dialogue, through the MET, with them. A big fine will be a possibility.

[jamoor]

Yeah, just ignore it.

They don't know your passport details.

I also go one step further and don't put my home address on the logbook.

[anonymous-user]

I find it unbelievable that even the Swiss, anal as they are, would think this worthwhile.

No wonder the world is in economic turmoil with this sort of waste.

If it were me I would deny being there and never go back. That would be no hardship, in all honesty.

[agtlaw]

i've dealt with a couple of swiss speeding cases. drivers going quite fast. one client paid up, the other didn't. both have been back without any issues so far. the fine incurs a number of days imprisonment if the fine is unpaid. there is a set tariff that X swiss francs = 1 days' detention. i might dig out the details later.

[jamoor]

REALIST123 said:

I find it unbelievable that even the Swiss, anal as they are, would think this worthwhile.

No wonder the world is in economic turmoil with this sort of waste.

If it were me I would deny being there and never go back. That would be no hardship, in all honesty.

Also Switzerland is now in the schenghen area, so they have no real way of knowing if you enter/leave the country.

[s3fella]

Op was it in your own car Brit registered, or a rental? We're you visiting or living there?

[agtlaw]

i've reminded myself of my Swiss cases.

Mr X was fined CHF 2745 in Switzerland. He paid a CHF 1200 deposit so he owed a further CHF 1545. The actual fine was CHF 2000. The rest is legal costs.

Mr X was also on 'probation' for two years. If he committed another offence then he was liable to pay an additional CHF 4200. This was calculated as CHF 70 a day for 60 days in lieu of imprisonment.

Mr Y's fine was smaller and his 'probation' (income based) was CHF 40 a day for 60 days in lieu of imprisoment.

[daytonarhymes]

s3fella said:

Op was it in your own car Brit registered, or a rental? We're you visiting or living there?

my own car registered in UK, on holiday

[paul.deitch]

I seem to remember that there are plate recognition cameras at every road border.

[tigger1]

jamoor said:

REALIST123 said:

I find it unbelievable that even the Swiss, anal as they are, would think this worthwhile.

No wonder the world is in economic turmoil with this sort of waste.

If it were me I would deny being there and never go back. That would be no hardship, in all honesty.

Also Switzerland is now in the schenghen area, so they have no real way of knowing if you enter/leave the country.

Except, I don't know...if maybe you entered from somewhere that wasn't part of schengen, like, say, the UK?

To the OP - get *proper* advice. It sounds like they treat speeding as a far from trivial thing in the land of the Switzer.

[JMGS4]

DON'T ignore it. The Swiss have elephantine memories. I'd answer them through the Met, explain you're without a job, and pay up. It'll be a stiff fine and possibly a swiss ban... if you ignore it a european arrest warrant could be taken out (criminal offence).....
A customer of mine tried it on in the 70s from Germany, he's still persona non grata and subject to arrest if he ever enters Switzerland, and that was only for a parking fine!

[jamoor]

tigger1 said:

Except, I don't know...if maybe you entered from somewhere that wasn't part of schengen, like, say, the UK?

To the OP - get *proper* advice. It sounds like they treat speeding as a far from trivial thing in the land of the Switzer.

Although if you're driving there, it's easy.

[OdramaSwimLaden]

daytonarhymes said:

I was contacted by a met police officer last month who was assisting the Swiss authorities regarding a speeding offence all the way from last November.

As you may know, Swiss fines are linked to your income. According to this http://www.englishforum.ch/transportation-driving/... a speed excess of 35-39 kmh equates to 15 x daily income, and 40+ is court determined.

I honestly do not know if myself or my wife would have been driving. I need to provide a statement to give to the Swiss authorities to confirm who was driving. I asked the met police officer for photographic evidence and if she could let me know when the when the camera was last calibrated, information which she was not able to provide.

Does anyone know what the best course of action to take would be? Additionally, is the fine based on your income at the time of the offence or your current income? I was working back then, am not currently at the moment but will be next month.

cheers

In your situation I would make an effort to find out what the fine is firstly. If it's a stupidly big one and you can afford to pay it; do it. If you can't; don't.

In the last 10 years I've had letters directly, letters through debt collectors and letters from the Police about speeding in France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Austria and the only thing in common is that they have hit the bin, ignored with no ramifications of follow ups.

[Grenoble]

jamoor said:

Also Switzerland is now in the schenghen area, so they have no real way of knowing if you enter/leave the country.

Not true. Border controls still operate around Switerland, though they vary in what they actually do.

Schenghen didn't remove border controls, it harmonised and improved cross border collaboration.

For those around the French border, customs will regularly stop people - including local people who are doing runs to France for cheaper shopping...

[GlenMH]

Grenoble said:

For those around the French border, customs will regularly stop people - including local people who are doing runs to France for cheaper shopping...

True - although the locals will often just turn around and cross the border at a different point that isn't manned at that particular time...