Receiving traffic fine after returning from trip;
 

Has anyone ever received a traffic fine after returning from a trip to Austria? We had a wonderful trip to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on Sept.14-Oct.6, 2004. However, today we received a letter from Europecar stating that we had received a traffic fine while in Austria on Sept.25, and that they were charging our credit card 10 Euros
because they had received a request from the police for information on my husband. We don't know amything about a fine--nor have we been contacted by the police. Does anyone know anything about a "statute of limitations" on something like this? Thank you!

Speeding on the autobahn, eh? Didn't see that little camera on the overpass, did you? They're becoming fairly prevalent in Europe. The file for the complaint contains, among other things, a photo of your car speeding (with license plate and driver's face) and the data (speed, time, place, etc) relative to the complaint. Re: statute of limitations---you know all that fine print on your rental contract that's too boring to read? Now's your chance. Lots of luck-they have the goods on you. My advice--pay up (being glad they only nicked you for 10€) and dream about your trip.

Very common all over Europe. Speed and other roadside cameras are all over the place. If you break a traffic law they contact the registered owner (the rental agency) and they gave your info to the police.

The €10 might only be the beginning depending on what you did. It may just be a processing fee assessed from Europecar. If you were well over the speed limit or some other high fine infaction. You MIGHT be getting another charge to your credit card for the actual fine.

Oh merled, after reading tomboy's and janis' post I think I would go open up a bottle of wine and have a gulp of it immediately!

I am sorry that you had this happened.

We have those pesky cameras in California now also. Just don't know if the car is a rental if the PD contacts the rental car company etc. as they do in Europe.

Hopefully you will hear nothing more.

10 euro hardly sounds like enough for a speeding violation. I was thinking maybe parking?

". . . and that they were charging our credit card 10 Euros
because they had received a request from the police for information on my husband."

This doesn't sound like any fine to me. It sounds like a charge by the car agency for having to send the police information. I suspect the fine is yet to come.

LoveItaly, I thought we only have red light cameras in California. Did I miss something?

Hi Barbara, yes right now we only have red light cameras but I found out from a family member (who has inside knowledge) that California is quietly working on cameras for speeders etc.

Personally with all the horrible accidents we have on 1-80 here in N.CA I wish we had them on the freeway. The accidents seem to be daily.

In France, we had to pay, right on the spot 90€ for speeding.

Mimi, was that the fine or a bribe LOL!
Seriously, they collect the fine right then and there? Do they take credit cards? What if you had not had enough cash with you. Do the police escort you to the nearest ATM?

No credit cards, you must pay. I don't know what would have happened if we didn't have the money.

If it is a speeding ticket it is very cheap. But I would ask for the evidence, i.e., the picture. It will a nice souvenir. I have one from Germany.

Sounds like 10 Euro is the charge from Europecar for supplying information to whichever country is requesting it. There will be further charges to come. Expect a two-page letter (not in English) with most likely a picture of you driving in the mail. I live in Germany and have received several of these. Sometimes they'll ask you for an explanation of WHY you were speeding and then they'll send you a bill based on your response. Funny, isn't it? My highest speeding ticket was 370 Euro for driving 149 km/h on a bridge that decreased to 100 km/h. That wasn't from a camera though.

Thanks everyone for your info. My husband probably did speed on the Autobahn, but we had no idea of anything like this happening! I'm sorry that I didn't make it clear in my original question, but we understood that the 10 euros that the car rental company charged was for sending info to the police, and that the actual fine would be much higher!
A friend who is from Germany told my husband (after we returned home),that if he had been caught speeding on the Autobahn he would be getting a ticket in the mail, any time--up to three months. We thought that since that time had passed, we didn't have anything to worry about!

Perhaps you should think about it this way: there probably isn't any doubt that your husband was speeding on the autobahn is there? Just be glad that while he was speding all he did was incur a traffic fine rather than someone's life.

Merled - same thing just happened to me, but Budget chaged me $25 Euro - and that was just their charge. Mine was for a parking ticket though, and that is yet to arrive.

Here in Belgium, you get a 50 euro fine for not wearing your seatbelt, and there are a lot of police checks at the moment for this. I read this morning that the minister proposes to increase this fine to 100 euro. Talking on your mobile also costs 50 euro (and is also proposed to rise to 100). Speeding, especially if you are more than 40 km over the speed limit, will cost you several 100s.