Photo radar Speeding ticket - Spain
 

Hi everyone,

We just received via mail a ticket (we live in Canada) issued by photo-radar for speeding (near Santiago de Compostelo). I understand we're responsible for the car but its very possible the car was valet parked when the ticket was issued. (And the licence plate number does belong to our rented car).

Is there any point in disputing the ticket?

Mike,

If the ticket is not issued to your car then I would definitely dispute it. Probably the rental agency made a mistake when they furnished the information.

This is a good lesson to make sure I have the license place of rental cars in the future.

I would contact the rental agency and see if they can steaighten it out. We had a situation with an electronic ticket in the same area of Spain.

" licence plate number DOES belong to our rented car"

My caps.

If the car rental place has your CC#, might they end up paying it and charging you?

Sorry - I read it wrong. You need to pay the ticket.

If the speeding ticket is time stamped and you have a receipt for the valet parking, I'd dispute it.
The cost of the fine may impact how much effort you want to make.

You will probably get an administration fee from the rental car company for the ticket. It is usually part of the agreement. Just out of curiosity what was the name of the town?

Our ticket didn't have an address to send the payment. Avis told us to call Spanish tourism bureau in NYC. The man who answered said he drives faster than that in Spain which was strange. In the end, we ignored it as we had no address.

I just had the same problem in The Netherlands and another long time poster had the same problem in Germany.

I was going 3 mph over the limit and I think Peg was also was just a miles over the limit.

If this becomes an epidemic across Europe, it will discourage visitors from renting cars.

Spain has several area's where they have set up camera's the last fewl years simply to raise revenue. We came across one outside of Jaca on the N-240 a few years ago. The speed limit went from 120 to 70 and back up to 120 in less the 50 meters, around a blind corner. The price, €200 EUR, payable to the Guardia Civil in Huesca.

Other areas have increased the tolls, much easier than trying to collect speeding tickets from someone outside the EU. It may be difficult for you to pay since you are from Canada and don't have an IDN, which is required, but you can try.

I guess the only epidemic is that rather than giving up at the border european organisations are now chasing those that speed over the border.

I'd be interested to know what happens at US state borders or indeed do Canadians get chased down for their US traffic violations.

Still, I also struggle to keep to speed limits and have programmed my car to "ping" if I go over the official speed, maybe others can too?

First off the ticket will state a time and date. If you were renting the car at the time and date you will have to pay the fine.
The rental company will send you a bill for forwarding your details to the local authorises.
You can pay on line at this web page.
https://apl.dgt.es/migracion_IWPS.html - Para acceso sin certificado digital

Here is an explanation on how make a payment.
http://www.mamunahmed.com/08/speed-c...#comment-41992
Note: sometimes your browser will question if the DGT website is safe. Either change browsers or click to say it is ok. This happens a lot with Spanish government websites.

The question one has to ask is what are the ramifications if the fine is not paid. That is unclear at the moment. laws are changing all the time. Some say pay and you will have a clear conscious.

I say pay because it is the law, this whole thing of "taxes and laws are down to debate" is how you end up with nonsense countries

"If this becomes an epidemic across Europe, it will discourage visitors from renting cars."

Believe me, the impact on furriners renting cars in Europe is never mentioned when speed cameras are propsed. I expect there is also little mention of tourism when open carry laws are discussed.

I also wonder how many valet parking drivers in Santiago de Compostella get an opportunity to speed. If they don't know where the cameras are, nobody does.

I expect there is also little mention of tourism when open carry laws are discussed.

It all depends if you are talking about Bourbon St or Salt Lake City?

I am surprised that this car was caught on a speed camera unless it was a mobile one.
http://mapas.race.es/
Then "buscar" Aeropuerto Internacional De Santiago De Compostela.
Tick the box "Radares" ans scrollout. There are very few fixed positions in the area.

Slightly OT but I never use Valet parking with a rental car for insurance reasons. I assume if the car is in an accident it would be a nightmare to figure out the insurance implications for a driver not named on the rental agreement. Others do the same?

I can't imagine why people find it so difficult to respect the speed limit.

kerouac, having been caught speeding in the UK I got the chance to be re-educated in speed awareness rather than "take points on my licence". As a result I got to spend a day with the ex-chief constable for Lancashire who put 95% of all speeding down to in-attention and a "just not being aware" of how nasty it is to kill a small child.

Made me think....

<I'd be interested to know what happens at US state borders or indeed do Canadians get chased down for their US traffic violations>

No! There are no federal traffic laws in the US, only international commerce rules and regulations. Each state is different and independent when it comes to such matters. Speed limits on Federal Highways are regulated to what each State believes it can live with, so when you drive in Idaho or Montana, the speeds are far greater than what is allowed in parts of New York, Washington State, or Georgia.

Canadians are free if they break a minor traffic law, and receive a ticket, as long as they do not get stopped by the State Patrol or local police for some infraction at a later date. States do not share such information, but some border states may share the information to the US Border Patrol but there is no formal process regarding traffic violations. If you receive a speeding ticked from a state where you do not reside, they have no power to force you to pay the fine. Just don't return and get stopped for some reason.

"If this becomes an epidemic across Europe, it will discourage visitors from renting cars."
Or encourage them to respect the laws of the country they visit.

I wish Robert2533 was correct as least as far as Ontario is concerned but we've had reciprocity with many States for years - and it seems many States have reciprocity too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_License_Compact

"If this becomes an epidemic across Europe, it will discourage visitors from renting cars."
Or encourage them to respect the laws of the country they visit
_________
Yes, I can see whether exceeding the speed limit by a few miles an hour is akin to child molestation and murder.

And oh the hypocrisy, that people sheepishly pay any fine whether justified or not.

Reciprocity agreements between cities in Canada and the US and the Drivers License Compact are not the same. The DLC is only used within the 45 States that have opted to enforce it, mostly for major violations.

Getting someone from Canada to pay a traffic fine in Washington State requires an act of Congress, and we all know how much work Congress accomplishes in a given year.

Unless it's a major traffic offense, the Canadian violator can come and go a will, the US Border Patrol will not be aware of any pending minor traffic tickets. They have other things to worry about, like all the illegals slipping across the border, most in plain sight.

Why the hell are we getting dragged into a US v Canada conversation here. The OP asked about a possible speeding ticket he might get in Spain, and how to resolve that.

No, he's asking about a speeding ticket he GOT. It slays me that adults--well old enough to know better--will claim a ticket is "unjustified" if they were only speeding a little. Well, guys, that's like being a little bit pregnant--either you were speeding or you weren't.

I agree that if you can prove the valet had the car when the ticket was issued, you should dispute it. If not, let your conscience be your guide; friends of ours have ignored a European speeding ticket without consequences (although the rental car company will be harder to ignore).

"Yes, I can see whether exceeding the speed limit by a few miles an hour is akin to child molestation and murder. "

A few miles might make the difference between killing a human being or not. Paying a fine is the price foreigners have to pay for breaking the law. Locals incur the fine plus the possible loss of their driving licence.

In your opinion how many miles above the speed limit should one be allowed to drive ? Should the law be also applied to DUI? After all, one more drink isn't going to make much difference, is it?

Yes, I oftern compare speeding and pregnancy. I have three little Volvos and a Saab on the way.

The absurd and false comparisons. Courts often throw out speeding violations if the machines recording violations have not been calibrated during a certain period and do you honestly think every car's speedometer is perfectly calibrated. Please let's have a dose of reality here, not self-righteousness.

In France, they remove 10 km/h from the speed recorded by the radar cameras, just to be nice. So when you get a ticket for going 3 km/h over the speed limit, it means that you were actually going 13 km/h over the limit. This is clearly marked on the ticket, but some people whine and whimper anyway about only having been 3 km/h over the limit. If they deducted 20 km/h from your actual speed, these same people would still protest.

Last year a speeding driver killed two cyclists in the town I live in. Seven children were left fatherless by this incident.

If a speedometer is faulty then the driver needs to take that into account and drive considerably under the limit to be on the safe side IMO.

We are not talking about speeding at breakneck speeds or drunk driving, we are talking driving a bit over the limit.

People get killed by cars driving at under the speed limit and today the growing cause of accidents are people texting.

>>>We just received via mail a ticket<<<

If you had that rental car on that day, then it's probably your ticket.

>>>I'd be interested to know what happens at US state borders or indeed do Canadians get chased down for their US traffic violations.<<<

I don't know about tracking down people from out of the country, but there are plenty of cameras and rental companies here have the same clause/fees for providing your info to the police. No one bothers to read their rental agreements,

"me thinks he doth protest too much" ;-)

If you referring to me, I have been driving almost 50 years I have only gotten speeding ticket in the States and that is when I was 18 and deserved it.

It is just the people that complain that the salad fork was missing are the same one who are self-righteous when it comes to others.

The Netherlands automatically reduces the measured speed by about 10%, to allow for your speedometer being incorrect. The speed cameras are regularly tested.

Of course all European countries only send fines to Americans in hired vehicles. They make so much money from that there is no need to fine the locals. Except for the fine DH got last week for going @ 135 in a 120 zone. It's a 130 zone at night, but his right foot is heavy and fines are not unusual sadly.

OP, normally the registered holder of the vehicle, you in this case, has to pay the fine. If you can prove conclusively that it was the valet parking service you could either fight the fine, or demand repayment from the parking company.
I guess it depends on the amount involved whether it is worth the hassle of doing so or not.

IMDonehere tells yet another great Saab story.

And how much exactly is going *a bit* over the speed limit?
As others tried to explain over and over and over again, the speed cameras are set to allow *a bit* of an error in favor of the driver.
So if you get caught going 120 in a 100kph speed zone, your odometer has shown appr. 130kph.

Cold, I thought you were after some woman's Volvo.

Just finished 8 days of driving in France and detecting the current speed limit was not always easy. Had to assign a child passenger the job of monitoring it, and it changed frequently and there were often 4 speed limits simultaneously: 1 for trucks, 1 for camper vans, 1 for cars in dry pavement and a fourth for cars in the rain.

Why was it so difficult? The signs are clear enough on French motorways. You know what type of vehicle you are driving so know what sign to look for. You can also see if it is raining or not.
It is your responsibility to read the signs and know what they mean.