If it makes you feel better-last year just after my husband arrived to meet me in Europe he got a speeding ticket in Seattle for going 1 mile over in a 20 mph zone in a school zone with no children present (if we had been there he would have fought that one), and then when we got home, we got a speeding ticket from the Netherlands for going 2KM over in a very low speed area AND a parking ticket in Aix for missing our meter by 1 minute! It was a very expensive holiday! We paid them all and it was fairly expensive. The only break we caught was that since we use the car lease program we didn't get the car rental fees tagged on too!

One lesson I learned is that at least for the parking meters is that I use phone apps that allow me extend the time-not all meters use them but when they do I always at least have the option of extending my parking time. For the "speeding" I always put cruise control on 1-2 KM less than the speed limits but in the cities that won't help of course. So we just try to be as careful as possible.

You would have been going 9km/h too fast to get a fine from the Netherlands. They allow an error of 7km/h and do not issue fines if you are recorded going 7km/h or less too fast in a speed limit lower than 100km/h. Betwee 100 and 120km/h you are allowed 108km/h, and in 130 you are allowed 136km/h.
9km/h too fast in a 30km/zone is actually serious speeding when you think about it.

We were on a road in Gröningen but not in the historic center but still in a city area and we were going really slowly so I guess maybe it had to have been 7 over (which is just over 5 mph) but I do remember thinking I was surprised. I have never gotten a "PV" as they call it in France because I am ultra conscientious of using my cruise control.

It's easily done, and you were just unlucky. Our street is a 30 zone but I think most people drive faster. You were probably just going with the flow as well. I am amazed you could speed anywhere around Groningen, it is always such a traffic snarl up. Unless we have to go to the Ikea we either take the train or park and ride there.
I hope all your fines didnt put you off!

Flitsmeister app is helpful in the Netherlands (but illegal in France).

It was actually a Sunday-we were staying at a lovely property just outside the city called Van der Valk Hotel Groningen Westerbroek. So we just drove into town to eat some Thai food :) And yes we were kind of just going with the flow-but got unlucky in my opinion-but it happens. That whole trip was like that-a week before we left with the US my DH had a medical issue that came up so we had to reschedule everything last minute so that was costly-then the day of his medical procedure here in the US the construction company managed to flood our condo building so we had to go to a hotel for a week. Then in Europe we got all the tickets (that we have never gotten in 40 years of going to Europe) and then I managed to tear a ligament in my foot and had to have handicapped assistance at the Nice airport, Gatwick and Seattle airport because I couldn't walk more than 3 meters or so!

But we just assumed it was our turn to win the bad luck lottery and really in the scheme of things, it wasn't so bad! You just have to keep smiling if you love to travel :)

And for sure the ticket didn't put us off hetismij2-we loved all of the Netherlands! We hadn't explored much outside of Amsterdam! And you were a big part of us having such a nice trip-so thank you for that! You really helped me that year as well since if you might remember we were driving from Denmark back to France and wanted to see more of the Netherlands. We loved it and will be back-but boy will I drive slowly! Or, even better, next time hopefully with no foot injuries I will come by train :)

Driving is still a good way to see the country - lots of places can't be reached easily by public transport sadly, or if they can it takes an age to do it. Where I live is a case in point - it takes 3 to 4 hours to get to Amsterdam from here by train, and a bit over an hour by car. Though car parking in Amsterdam is a total pain and expensive, luckily the park and rides are good and cheaper.

I got one merging on the beltway in DC, 5 over and trying to get the hell out of the way. 120.00 on a camera ticket. It sucks but how do you merge into that fast ftraffic without hitting the gas. My friend got two in one day coming and going on the DC beltway in the same spot. I love public transportation more and more.

I now budget 200 Euro extra to pay fines whenever I plan a driving vacation in Europe. I always manage to crest a hill and immediately incur a fine as I have entered the town proper. A few years ago, after an incident of being photographed entering a German village. I drove back to the town, stopping in the mayors office and asking to pay my fine, hoping to eliminate the rental car company's "convenience fee." The mayor said he could not help me as the cameras were administered by an outside company. He loved that I stopped, we had a great conversation and he sent me on my way with a bottle of schnapps.

I have even gotten a speeding ticket inside a Swiss mountain tunnel for exceeding the speed limit.

I did get the "convenience fee" charge from the rental car company but never received a ticket in the mail.

Some of my favorite memories and stories of European travel. I think I have a total of five over the years.

Huggy I feel your pain! And like you I try my best to avoid the tickets but just have to be sort of philosophical about it. I think one of the common threads I see in this discussion is also sort of what I feel-I sort of resent getting a ticket for a few miles over in a slow zone when I spend most of my time in Europe looking at the backsides of cars passing me :)

Not uncommon in mountain tunnels. Also common in tunnels in Germany.
Cameras with an undetectable infrared "flash" so not to blind the driver.

Compared with our neighbors, penalties for traffic violations are on the mild side.
You pay €35 when you go 70kph in town with a 50kph speed limits. 20kph over the limits is already pretty much outside the norm of regular speeding. You also cannot get arrested for speeding (unless you drive like a maniac). Speeding is also not a "crime", legally it's something below a misdemenour in Germany. Nothing that will shock anyone.

In France you probably have to sell your newborn to pay traffic fines. Two of your kids in the Nordics.
Often the fee imposed by the rental car company will be higher than the actual fine in Germany.

Usually, for foreigners the major PITA is to may the administrative fee as often you cannot pay by card.

jpie as I said you were going at least 9km/h over the limit to get a fine for 2km/h and when you think about it in a 30 zone that is going a third too fast, so not just a little bit too fast bit proportionately a lot too fast. 30 zones normally have bikes on the road with you, and priority from the right so you need to drive at 30 or less for everyone's safety.
If it was a lower limit because of roadworks you would get a double fine, but they still allow the 7km/h error as obviously not every car speedo is accurately calibrated, unlike the sppeed camera.