humptynumpty

wankinaround

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sit

I would refer my learned colleague to 22b.

Anyhaws, I'm not takin lessons in lowland Scottish from someone who canna spell in own name proper.

If you canna talk proper shat ya gob.

humptynumpty

Oh! I see we're on tenses.

Very tedious.

mike1728

No need to pay it. Like yourself I tried to pay a speeding ticket from Germany several years ago. I could not translate the ticket, I tried several emails with a town administrator but the language barrier was again, a problem. If you could pay with a credit card I would have paid it, but the bank transfer makes it extremely difficult. The rental car company can not charge you for a moving violation, only parking related tickets.

I have been to Germany two times since incurring the speeding ticket and have rented cars both times and have had no problems or fees with the rental companies.

Mike

wobbers

Well exactly why should you pay, just a silly European country, right? I had a speeding ticket in California I did not bother paying either, why should I?

walkinaround

i agree that criticism of grammar is very tedious and a waste of time. however, in this case i am not criticising you personally but rather asking a serious question regarding many britons' propensity to use 'sat' as you have. i really don't understand where this misuse comes from as i have not been taught this nor did any of the children in my school speak like this. however, it is quite common among certain types of people and i really can't understand where exactly it comes from. best that i can gather is that it's more of a northern, lower class, state school kind of habit. i think we can all agree that it's not correct english so i think it's interesting to understand how a widespread misuse of the language originated and why some are afflicted with this and others are not.

your example of 22b is not helpful to you as 'sat' here is used in the past tense. we britons don't really even notice it as it's so widespread but as we do business and communicate with people from other countries (even here on fodors) we look pretty uneducated if we say things like "i'm sat here at dinner" (although 'tea' would go more naturally in this kind of sentence) or "i'm still sat on my sofa" (or "settee" which goes more naturally in the sentence).

humptynumpty

Walkin

"i agree that criticism of grammar is very tedious and a waste of time"

Nothing is ever a waste of time. Never know where anything will take you.

I know 22b was relevant, I used it as I originally thought you were criticising the concept of "sitting on a ticket". hence my post "we are talking about tenses".

It's due to impact only.

In a different context I would use sitting in the same sentence but the phonetics of "sat" add impact.

Compare :

I am currently sitting reading a book.

I simply wouldn't say or write "I am sat reading a book"

However, I would use "I am still sat here waiting for an answer". As with your example "

The impact is different.

I think typing very quickly I probably would use "sat" to get the point over quickly.

Time for bed!

photo2u

I just got a certified mail from Austria stating that I need to pay for a speeding ticket I got 12/28/10. They want me to pay 120 euros for it.

I am not planning to visit Europe in the near future. The credit card was charged by Avis for a transaction fee.

I do not know what to do. Please advice,

logos999

>120 euros
As written above, justice for your reckless driving will not be served if you just don't pay. If traffic police in Austria would to stop you anywhere on Austrian roads, they would just make you pay, adding a little something for their extra effort.

logos999

>>120 euros
Wonder what you could have done to recieve such a high fine.
Looks like you did 2 times 21-30kmh above speed limit.

Just have to love those speedcams.

xyz123

ignore it.....you paid a fine through Avis. I would bet those fees charged by the car rental companies are there because they don't really expect to be able to collect on them; especially if yo're not going back to Austria.

jamikins

There are really two choices: pay it or dont pay it. Only you can decide what you want to do.

photo2u

Reckless driving? In a highway? I was speeding much like everyone in the road. Personally, I did not think I was doing anything wrong. I do not think I will drive in Austria again. If I do pay the ticket. I will never visit that country again. I will just visit other countries in the future. After four times in Austria, I think I have seen enough of it. By the way Salzburg is over rated. I will not recommend any one driving in such a place. Lesson leaned, DO NOT DRIVE IN VIENNA OR SALZBURG. I will spend my dollars in other countries.

You know what is funny, Salzburg is perhaps one of the worst city for customer service.

Cowboy1968

One thing you learned: "Go with the flow" is not a valid advice for driving in Europe. Speed cameras get them all.
If you think that €120 for speeding is a high fine then good luck in France or Italy...

By the way, the "Avis fee" has nothing to do with "paying a fine". It's a service fee for providing the foreign (or domestic) law enforcement agencies or similar with your personal data so those are enabled to send you the ticket.
You gave the rental car company the permission to do so when you signed the contract.

photo2u

you know, I truly do not know what to do. I have tried to contact city hall but they do not answer. All of their paper work in in German and I do not understand it correctly. Can Austria put a restriction on my visiting other European union countries?

photo2u

Cowboy, Avis fee was disclosed in a letter. Live and learned. I am not driving again in Europe period. It is not worth it.

jamikins

Not driving in Europe over 120euros and a charge from Avis - that seems a bit extreme given proportionately how much that was out of the total cost of your trip!

Is there an address on the back of the ticket - why not send a cheque in euros (just change the sign to euros on the cheque) to that address?

logos999

Well, just don't pay. LOL But since the fine is 60€, not 120€, you must have triggered the cameras twice. Try that in Italy, if you're looking for really high fines.
The Austrians have GPSs and things like the "famous" French Inforad K1, that tell them where to slow down to not trigger the camera.

photo2u

I just do not agree with all of the traffic rules that I might brake and charged for. Additionally, the extra fees charged at my hotel for overnight parking are just plain greedy. As a consumer, I just a little sore in how some cities such as Salzburg charged visitors to use public parking spaces. I paid 22 euros for a 3 hour stay. That is not cool.

I just do not think is worth it. Specially with all the hidden charges rental companies charge. I paid extra for thing I did not need or wanted. Also the car I requested was not what I got. I requested a medium sedan for a week with unlimited miles and The bill was 192.00 dollars original contracted price. I asked why? I returned the car with a full tank of gas, No car damage, clean and ready to go for the next customer. The combination of traffic laws and poor customer service and hidden charges it is not worth it for me.

Finally, did I mention the waiting line process of returning and picking up the car? At least two hours for each.

logos999

I thought, it could be funny, but I'm bored.
Good night!

photo2u

Loggos,

It is funny that people use those K1 devices. I wished I had one. I guess that is what others had in the highway while they traveled alongside with me.

Since I am not planning in visiting Austria my question is this"
Can the Austrian authorities put a warrant at European Union Airports?