How do we pay a traffic ticket from Germany
 

We received a ticket (over the speed Limit) in either Germany or Austria after our return home to the USA. We were driving from Lake Königsee to Salzburg so not certain exactly which country we were in.

All the papers are in German, tried translating it via Babel translation but still can't understand all of it, so who or where can we go to get this figured out and paid? It is for EURO 35 so not a big deal.

We belong to AAA and rented the car from Avis and neither of them could help us.

Thanks for any help!
Lydia

There should be some type of address on there somewhere and/or bank account number.

Once you know the entity's name and address a check can be made in euros or bank transfer.

AVIS could not help - it's their car and are not they ultimately responsible for getting the ticket paid. Often the complaint here is car rental companies dogging folks after returning to pay mysterious tickets - like in Italy where you car may enter a restricted vehicle zone and you did not even realize it but the scufflaws-catching camera did - they only had.

I'd call AVIS and demand to speak to a manager and not just a phone jockey.

BTW there is no address to send the payment to that may indicate what country you were in? Or a phone number to call with an area code or country code that would tell you?

Payment can be made to my e-mail address. I prefer Paypal, thank you.

And if you never plan to return to Europe then just throw the ticket away - that is if AVIS don't care and if they do they will contact you or simply charge your credit card.

I'll try Avis again. I can't decipher anything that looks like an address. There is a phone number but no country code.

It does appear there is a bank routing number and or account number for Bayerische Landesbank Munchen but no address I can find.

Lydia

You could always call the German Embassy in Washington DC and ask them i guess.

We also returned from Germany Sept. 2009 and to our surprise, Avis, who we rented car from,informed us of traffic offence. Needless to say, we have no idea what the offence was. Has anyone out there had similar experience and how was problem handled. Would appreciate some input, Andrea

I'd just wait. If you don't pay it, the authorities will eventually notify Avis who will notify you. And then you can pay by credit card. Avis probably can't help yet since they haven't received anything from the authorities yet.

Oh - just realized you received the ticket after you got home. (my answer was based on you actually having the ticket in hand when you were caught speeding)

If so, the authorities already contacted Avis - or how would they have received your name/address? So I'd contact Avis again. BTW - you may also get a cc charge from Avis for the administrative costs to provide your details to the authorities.

You are receiving pretty ill advice.
In general there is no liability of the owner of a German registered car for traffic violations (some exceptions apply, e.g. if a person was killed or injured, or in certain cases of parking offences).
The German penal system is rightly based on the principle that an offense may only be sanctioned if the personal guilt of the offender has been proven.
Avis as owner of the car will not be liable for the payment, is therefore not interested in solving the situation and will not debit your credit card.
The driver of a car is indeed liable for traffic violations - but German traffic authorities will not be able to enforce the respective payments if you reside abroad (some exceptions, where bi-lateral state agreements have been reached). To my knowledge such an agreement doesn't exist between Germany and the US.
You should therefore not even acknoledge receipt of the ticket and the German authority will not pursue the matter any further.
If you want to cause confusion, bewildered headshakes and some amusement, you could also decide to contact the German embassy.

A few years ago, we received a notice from Avis that we would be getting a ticket for some traffic violation we committed in or near Karlsruhe. They said they were charging us 11 Euro to provide our personal information.

Well, we never received a ticket so I was surprised when I read your post. I thought that maybe Avis would say something the next time we rented a car from them in Germany, but it was never mentioned.

Is it just me, or does it seem strange that all these tickets are from Avis rental cars and no others???

You are supposed to pay the ticket by a money transfer using the bank routing number, the routing number identifies the bank = you don't need a physical address. The rub lies in the exchange rate/fees that your American bank will charge you to do this...it could cost more than the fine.

Have you checked with paypal? Maybe they have an arrangement to provide this service.

The Germans have a high civic expectation; I don't seem them just ignoring the fine. Should you not pay the fine and then some day return to Germany it 1)might show up at passport control 2)if you got stopped and it showed up on record...my guess is the fine would be pretty stiff.

I feel your pain! We got a parking ticket the first time we drove into Heidelberg for dinner. If it will make you feel better, ours was 40 euros.

>The rub lies in the exchange rate/fees that your American bank will charge you to do this...it could cost more than the fine.

Within Germany, and soon within the Eurozone, bank transfer payments are free of charge and therefore the preferred method of payment. As far as I know, the US system is different and therefore getting the money out of one system into the other may incur some higher fees. But best would be to contact your bank and ask them what they would charge for a transfer like this.

Or maybe send the money to altamiro and let him/her pay it?

On 2nd thought...

1. The hire car company charge you for an admin fee for providing your details to the German authorities - the charge (along with all the other ways of milking money out of you) will have been detailed in the hire agreement. Very standard for Europe now.

2. The German authorities have NO logistical way of recovering this money. Lots of Europeans live near us in the UK (we live near a European arms contracts company). I was round at our German friends tonight and they had yet another UK speeding story. They were flashed (again) by our local UK speed camera but yet again no ticket was issued.

In the UK the logistics of recover mean that our police do not even issue the tickets. In Germany and Italy the tickets are issued in the basic hope that you as a moral citizen will pay up.

3. The tickets are not entered on a criminal database as they are a civil matter - ie you can re-enter that country with no comeback. I am now sat on 2 tickets from Italy - have revisited with no comeback.

4. As far as I am aware the police do not have the right in Germany to charge your card without your consent. Italy are trying to introduce this (no suprise there then!)

5. With so many honest paranoid tourist around - I have say that if I was starting a new scam - issuing these tickets would be a prime source of income. The documentation I received from Pisa Police was poor in quality and was simply binned - if it wasn't so accurate I would have been tempted to think it was a scam.

Simple fact - pay if you want to!

markrosy,

you are spot on, but you are(as I have been before) preaching to deaf ears.

These people do (for whatever reason) want to pay...

This thread is a shame for this forum.

The OP has asked a legitimate and reasonable question and, instead of giving sound advice, posters who are completely cluesless are giving wrong advice and are making jokes at the OP's expense.

The only posters who know are hsv and markrosy.

Here are the facts:

- An amount of 35€ is a strong indicator that it is a German ticket. An Austrian ticket would be more expensive.

- An amount of 35€ in Germany means that you have exceeded the speed limit by 10-14 km/h. In Germany, this is a minor misdemeanor.

- The 35€ is not a fine, it is a FEE (gebührenpflichtige Verwarnung). This means, it is not entered into a criminal database and you will get no problems when you enter Germany in the future.

- Conclusion: just forget it. The authorities will do so. Eventually Avis will charge an administrative fee. They are entitled to do so and you should pay this fee.

I am deeply ashamed.

Thanks traveller1959

The only posters who know are hsv and markrosy.

Here are the facts:

- An amount of 35€ is a strong indicator that it is a German ticket. An Austrian ticket would be more expensive.

- An amount of 35€ in Germany means that you have exceeded the speed limit by 10-14 km/h. In Germany, this is a minor misdemeanor.

It is definitely a speed ticket 68 km/h in a 50 km/h zone - I got that much out of the paperwork. I also translated that it either happened in Töging a. Inn or was sent from that town.

- The 35€ is not a fine, it is a FEE (gebührenpflichtige Verwarnung). This means, it is not entered into a criminal database and you will get no problems when you enter Germany in the future.

I can't find those 2 words anywhere (gebührenpflichtige Verwarnung)

- Conclusion: just forget it. The authorities will do so. Eventually Avis will charge an administrative fee. They are entitled to do so and you should pay this fee.

I want to forget it and most likely will - it is my husband pushing me to pay it. That is the type of person he is. He made the mistake and wants to pay it.

Thanks again,
Lydia