Traffic ticket in Brittany
 

About 3 weeks after our recent trip to France, we received a notice from Eurocar
that a 25 Euro charge had been placed on our credit card to cover a traffic violation.
How common is this? Can any Fodorites shed light on a ticket issued to us without our
knowledge?

On the day of the alleged offense, we drove from Dinan to the English Channel Coast,
parked in a large public lot and followed the pink granite trail for a couple hours and
then returned to Dinan. Our hotel there gave us a reserved space. A friend tried to translate the notice for us and thinks that our violation had to do with parking but
given our activities that particular day, I don't see how. Our friend said that she
and her husband often receive such notices when travelling in Europe and just write
them off as part of the cost of the trip. Enlightenment on this subject would be appreciated.

Pat

25€ is the standard Europcar fee for giving your address to the police for a violation. Your parking ticket will probably be for 35€.

Why don't you post the notice here so those of us who read French can tell you what it actually says?

<<Our friend said that she and her husband often receive such notices when travelling in Europe and just write them off as part of the cost of the trip.>>

Often? I've traveled for 30+ years in Europe in hundreds of rental cars and can only remember receiving a traffic ticket once or twice. And I paid them, I didn't consider it part of the cost of the trip. I'd be concerned about not being able to go back to a car rental agency and get another rental.

This isn't really unusual, to receive a traffic ticket "without your knowledge" at the time you did the offense. Many cities now in the US and Europe have cameras that record violations. I get 1-2 a year where I live in the US. Maybe you have never heard of traffic violation cameras so you don't understand how this can happen, but it's pretty common nowadays. They snap a photo of your license plate doing the infraction and then mail it to the registered address of the car, which in your case, was the rental company.

YOu wouldn't get them often if you never speed or enter restricted areas, or run red lights, but lots of people do speed. They have lots of speed cameras on various French highways, for example.

I agree that you should post the exact words because it doesn't sound like your friend knows French that well or it would probably be more obvious what it was for, at least more details.

I've received one ticket from Germany. I didn't consider it part of the cost of a trip but part of the cost of education.

I also received one at home and fought it.

I was delighted (uh, not quite) the other day to receive my second radar speeding ticket in 3 years (90€) for going 52 km/h in a 50 km/h zone in Nancy, but I was authentically happy not to be charged an additional 25€ by Europcar like I was the first time it happened. I am attributing this to the fact that I am now a regular Europcar customer with a special rate and perhaps this now cancels the administrative fee.

That, or they forgot to charge me.

Well, we finally received the ticket today in the mail. The amount we paid a few months ago was only to compensate the rental car company for their trouble in notifying the authorities of our identity. The ticket is written entirely in French and the computer translation is laughable. Maybe someone can help us determine the amount we must put on our VISA.

Montant de l'amende forfaitaire: 68 Euros

Si vous payez dans le 46 jours suivant la date d'envoi de l'avis de contravention(mentioned en haut a droite du present document) ce montant est ramene a........ 45 Euros

Does this mean that if we pay withing 46 days of the date de l'avis de contravention (which is 27/09/2012) that we only
have to pay 45 euros? We can pay over the internet but the
amount is not shown-we are to type in our multi digit infraction number and type in the the amount we are putting on the credit card.

Thank you.

Pat

All perfectly normal, and you've been charged exactly what the law allows.

If you pay within 46 days of the date they sent you the avis the contravention (which should be shown at the top right of the document you just received), you pay 45 euros.

Thank you St.Cirq. This is very helpful.

Pat

You may want to take a look at this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-169773-2.cfm