Sarastro

Interesting posts in a fascinating thread. Human nature makes compelling reading.

A number of our fellow posters should probably not be driving in France.

IMDonehere

This type of complaint seems to becoming more common.

Jeff801

Some 8 kilometers south of my house on the D 933, there is a speed camera which is the subject of a lot of complaint. There is a sign warning of it 500 meters in advance, but the camera is at the boundary where the limit drops from 90 KPH to 70 KPH. The camera frequently catches cars with drivers who seem to think that the speed limit means only that they should start slowing down after they pass the sign.

The police are there frequently catching northbound drivers who think they can be doing 90 from the time they see the end of restriction sign, not merely after it.

But, all the local drivers know that this is a particularly dangerous stretch of road, because of its configuration and the many homes and businesses that front it. Since the speed limit was dropped and the camera installed, the number of accidents has dropped substantially and there have been no deaths on this stretch of road.

I too chafed at speed restrictions in the towns along the highways until I started living in one. Now, I am very careful about the speed limits, take advantage of the crosswalks, and have no sympathy for the complaints of people who are cited for violations.

sparkchaser

<i>This type of complaint seems to becoming more common.</i>

First World problems.

Gretchen

Janis nailed it--I was just realizing this is our same Tom who wants to cheat hotels by stuffing his kids in the room after hiding them in the car, and complains that they charge by the person. He IS a piece of work.

Nikki

In the US, driving at the speed of the flow of traffic is a common practice, and if that is what you are used to, then it can seem odd that you are ticketed when others are speeding also. But in Europe, that driving strategy is no longer a good idea, as everybody is probably getting tickets if they are all driving faster than the speed limit.

kleeblatt

To be fair, there are so many speed cameras nowadays, that locals are starting to get fed up and find it's becoming a source of revenue.

Pay up, Tom, like the rest of us.

flpab

Don't drive in Orlando because the cameras are everywhere. Tom, do you take the toilet paper from hotels?

tom_mn

betty: YES, Avis (Budget) and I realize the police may not pursue it overseas. I do feel way better about arguing down the price of the rental since they were not honoring the reservation terms. Ended up wanting about 95 euros over my printed out reservation, but I only pressed them on the 80 euro one way charge because my printout clearly said "one way fee 0 euro".

county: France, maybe it was the instance where we were caught behind a truck in an intersection and left it on a solid red? This is the kind of thing a human officer would never pursue, but a camera just takes a snapshot with no context.

45/56 euros is quite small for a moving violation.

Janis and Gretchen: Yours truly!

flpab: depends of course on the quality, usually not worth it.

historytraveler

<< the same guy>> and he's still pushing our buttons.

NewbE

<I get heartily sick of posters complaining about being caught breaking the law. You aren't being targeted because you are a tourist, you are being targeted because you broke the law. Pay up and stop moaning.>

I like this response so much, I nominate as the default for such threads.

kybourbon

>>>Next time I will get a credit card that gives oodles of points or miles and waives the annual fee the first year, use it enough to get the bennies, rent the car in Europe then cancel it upon returning.<<<

I suggest you don't go back.

>>>40 euros to forward your address to the police? Hardly a reasonable fee.<<<

It seems you fail to read the contracts you sign. The fee is always listed for providing your info to the police (including rentals in the US). It's a similar amount on US rentals.

I wonder if names will start getting entered in the various systems for deadbeats that stiff the rental car companies by cancelling their cards?

Christina

License plates are fined where I live, also, by traffic cameras. The registered owner of the car is responsible for paying it. So if it weren't you, you'd have to get whoever was driving it to pay you, which seems fair.

But the OP apparently did do it, just doesn't want to pay. I also wonder what the CC has to do with it, but in fact, even that wouldn't work as people can charge to your card if it's been cancelled if they had an agreement, it just gets transferred to your new card number (if it's the number issue). If you totally cancelled the card and didn't get another, I still think if someone charges to it, the company can come after you, legally, if they had an agreement to do so.

IN point of face, some US company just charged to my card (B of A Visa) when they didn't have a number because it had changed about a year ago, and I had never given them the new one. It was one of those magazine scams where they say you agreed when signing up 2 years ago to have it renewed automatically. Now, in fact, I do remember that but they said I'd have the opportunity to decline when renewal time came around and they'd ask me. Well, they didn't (they claim they sent a postcard which I mysteriously never got, even though they had my email address). To my amazement they did cancel the charges and refund it when I complained, but the moral is -- they didn't even have my current CC number and they could charge to it somehow because they had the prior one.

Pegontheroad

I received a speeding ticket in Germany which caught up with me when I arrived back in the States. I wouldn't have broken the speed limit on purpose, but I obviously did so. I was caught dead to rights and have no problem with paying the ticket and the rental car company for their handling of the ticket.

My problem was how to do it. For some reason, I was unable to wire money to the police jurisdiction or to the Avis/Budget Group International. Maybe the bank officials/tellers I consulted were a bit dim.

The 9 hour time difference between my city and Europe were a problem, since I couldn't seem to get up at 4:00 a.m. to call the police jurisdiction. I finally just gave up and sent 30 euros cash by registered letter, which cost $15.However, that was cheaper than the $35 I'd have had to pay if I'd been successful in wiring the money.

The car rental company was difficult, too. I thought I'd paid with a credit card, but apparently that didn't go through. Then I sent 30 euros cash (another $15 registered letter) to an address on the letter I'd received from Avis/Budget.

Either I neglected to put the cash into the envelope or there was some other kind of foul up because Avis sent me a threatening letter. I called Avis again and faxed my credit card into to a number I was given. I have no idea whether the problem has been solved.

The original ticket wasn't the problem for me, nor was the charge from Avis/Budget. It was how to pay the d@mned things.

LSky

It's important to read the driving rules of the country your visiting.

LSky

People spend more time deciding on a restuarant then thinking about something that is potentially the most important thing they will do on vacation.

IMDonehere

I drove by my old high school the other day and today I found out there is a camera nearby that caught 6,000 speeders in ONE DAY last month. It is from the off-ramp from a highway, not from the kids. Very few kids drive to that HS.

Pegontheroad

Oh, gosh, I finally got a return receipt for the letter containing 30 euros that I had sent to Avis/Budget in Oberursel, Germany, where the headquarters is located.

I had sent that letter on August 29. Later I saw 30 euros in my desk drawer, which made me wonder if I'd really included 30 euros in the letter, or if the 30 in my desk drawer are just extra.

Anyway, I assumed they had not received the letter containing the cash, since after I sent the letter, I received a letter threatening to set a lawyer on me.

That's when I faxed my credit card number to Avis/Budget.

So I don't know where I stand. I haven't seen any charges on my credit card.

Geez, what a mess!

tom_mn

>>It seems you fail to read the contracts you sign. The fee is always listed for providing your info to the police (including rentals in the US). It's a similar amount on US rentals.<<


Actually, I still have the contract and this fee is not listed there. Other fees are listed, for example the adminstration fee for processing a damage claim, but not this fee.

janisj

Tom - every rental terms and conditions I've ever seen has something about this sort of thing.

For example here is Hertz version in Germany.

>>f. If we are required to process road fines, parking fines or any other fines relating to the time the vehicle was in your possession, you will be charged an administration charge for dealing with it. You will also be responsible for paying any fines.<<