Michael

Sojourntraveller

BTW, my comment had to do with rentals, where the agency charges a fee for passing the renter's information to the proper authorities.

Rubicund

"There is no peace without justice, whether in politics or in the mind."

I've not observed much justice in politics and as far as the mind goes, it depends on the mind's conception of justice.

IMDonehere

"There is no peace without justice, whether in politics or in the mind."

Yes, speeding and torture are equal crimes.

jp4120

wow lots of opinions....it is difficult for first time drivers in old historic areas of Spain to avoid one way streets and avoid parking at least temporarily in restricted zones....for one reason....you get frustrated sometimes and just say f-it.....due to construction in Cordoba i couldn't get to the hotel...2 GPS programs couldn't find it....the hotel clerk couldn't help me....so you do what you have to do. Personally I don't like 'big brother' taking pics of your car and then giving you a ticket, I will pay if its not too hard to pay and its legit.

Bedar

Oh, Just pay up when you get the ticket. Their website takes some time to load, but it's easy with a credit card, and you get 50% off if you pay it quickly. Hmm, the Hertz fee is a rip-off. When we got our ticket, we were using Europcar thru AutoEurope and didn't get charged anything. Negotiating streets in Europe is part of the fun. It proves that you're not in Podunk.

hetismij2

"Big Brother"only takes your photograoh if you break the law.

Driving in any city can be confusing, and frustrating, doesn't matter where in the world it is. It isn't a reason to ignore the rules though.

I still don't see how ImDone got a fine for 3km/h too fast. The Dutch do not fine for an uncorrected speed of less than 7km/h too fast on non 100km roads and 8km/h too fast on roads with a limit 0f 100km/h or higher.
I suspect he misread the fine - there is a 3km/h correction for speeds under 100 km/h, and a 3% correction for speeds over 100km/h.
All speed cameras are regularly calibrated, but because car speedometers aren't they allow that leeway.

IMDonehere

I could not pay the speeding ticket on-line. I needed a bank transfer that almost cost as much as the ticket.

Heti-Fine it was 4 kmh over the limit. It was absurd considering the road, the weather, and the circumstances.

Michael

<i>I needed a bank transfer that almost cost as much as the ticket. </i>

If it happens again, try Transferwise.

IMDonehere

Thank you Michael, I hope I do not have to use Transferwise in the future.

jp4120

hi all
still getting notices from tickets from my trip in spain from Hertz spain
when i call Hertz they have no record of the ticket or the charge, but then I get a final demand notice from Firefly car rental (I assume a hertz UK affiliate)
so I have paid $40Euro 2x to Hertz for 2 tickets....these charges are Hertz gouging me $40 E to send my name to the Spanish ticketing authorities....
in fact when speaking to Firefly employees they tell me that Spanish authorities usually don't bother to collect when the ticket is on a rental car.
next logical question - why cant Hertz just not send the info if it is not used?
just so everyone knows..these are from unavoidable parking in a taxi only spot for 20 minutes and turning down a taxi only street for 2 minutes by mistake...no speeding,etc.
So today....7 months after my trip, i just got another $40E notice for the same day I got a previous notice for....I can only think they took multiple pictures of my car every 5 minutes - I can see technology failing to realize the same car can't get 2 tickets within 20 minutes....not sure.
Bottom line - as i said this is Hertz BS.....you may disagree but I don't see how they can charge $40 E for sending an email.....
I'm not paying Hertz another penny (already gave them $80E), I would rather not use them vs paying them for this. Before you comment on how i should obey the law..understand my point..this is Hertz re-charging for the 3rd time....the spanish city govt doesn't even bother sending tix to rental car owners....so why is Hertz justified to charge for this....
anyone else run into this?

Michael

The car can get a ticket every twenty minutes. With the scenario you give, you could have a parking ticket and then drive on a street which was not allowed. That makes two tickets. If you were in Italy, you could be driving in and out of an area reserved for deliveries and local traffic only, and each time you drove in, a camera would take the picture and give you a ticket – multiple tickets for multiple infractions.

Mistakes are not taken into account by cameras.

Hertz charges you not only for the e-mail but for sending information to the authorities in question. You may very well eventually get a notification from the Spanish authorities. For a cheaper transfer of payment, look at xe.com.

ribeirasacra

You are obviously confused and hurt, but facts are you did break the law. Several times it seems. Some are fortunate in not getting caught others not.
Hertz are under obligation by law to pas on your details. They do this and at the same time charge you for the privilege. It will be in your hire contract. They will take the money no matter what from your CC. They are not asking you for any information.
Yes every time you make an infringement you have your photo taken every time a fine.

bilboburgler

True story.

My Grandmother was the first person to be caught speeding in a car in Dorset. She was pulled over by the police (this is the 1920s BTW). Told off she got back in her car.

My Grandmother was the second person to be caught speeding in a car in Dorset. She had pulled away too fast after being stopped. Her excuse, she had to make up time after being pulled over.

suck it up.

bilboburgler

What is also interesting is how some of the contributions from the some of our North American fodorites seem to see this as some sort of scam, while many of those I think of as Europeans see this as a clear crime. (a bit of a general statement but I hope you see what I mean)

Is this down to a cultural miss-understanding or have our local police activities nudged us into having different expectations? To put it simply is this an issue of trust?

bit_wiser

For all the virtuous Europeans let me explain to you why this is a scam. I was in Madrid, Spain driving in the old city near Santa Ana Plaza. I went down a narrow one way street and then encountered a sign that translates into "authorized vehicles only". I had a row of cars behind me. I can't turn around, I can't do anything except pass the sign. Then I get one of these SCAM tickets in the mail.

greg

I think there is a fundamentally different way the traffic laws enforcement are framed by Europeans and Americans.

I think the Americans believe if there is a regulation, there needs to be a way to avoid it at the point of enforcement. Without that, it is a scam.

European cities have situations like described above - one enters a a street, legal at that point, but later on come to a point of no return. Either there was no sign before or one followed an authorized car, such as a city bus, closely and did not see a sign before.

Because of this, it is prudent not to get even close to these regulated areas unless one has thoroughly studied exactly which roads to take. I found this concept extremely difficult to convey to first time U.S. travelers. They have a firm belief that they are so smart they would notice all the traffic signs and would avoid getting fines. They were so wrapped up in driving ALWAYS gives us flexibility, comfortable, and cheap (not with fines...) thinking.

Well, many of them don't get away and come home raging mad.