Traffic Violation
 

We just received a notice from France about a traffic violation while we were vacationing in early June. It states we were going 98km in a 90km zone. We were in a Europcar rental. Our credit card has already been charged 2 $40 incursions. The postage on the envelope is June 6, 2018. Any advice?

If you received 2 $40E charges - look for another traffic ticket in the mail soon. What advice are you asking for - other than "pay it"?


We normally get about 2 traffic tickets from France or Italy every year.


Stu Dudley

I agree with Stu. Although we've miraculously never received a traffic or parking ticket in Europe, if the dates, time and location all match, I wouldn't hesitate to pay The Man.

The $40 are most likely the processing fees Europcar charges to give your details to the authorities.

If/when you get the actual ticket -- pay it just like you would any other ticket.

Your ticket should have an online method of payment. A lot better than some European companies that reportedly require expensive international wire transfers. I suggest paying as soon as possible to avoid increased penalties. You may find that some forbearance on late payment penalty is already allowed, since you are a "foreigner." I know it's frustrating to get ticketed many weeks later from a camera you can't confront or dispute in a location you are unlikely to remember. All of that for allegedly driving 60mph in a 55 zone. Unfortunately, that's part of the price of driving in France and Italy where cameras are everywhere.

>>A lot better than some European companies that reportedly require expensive international wire transfers<<


Yep - the 2 tickets we received in Italy last year required a wire transfer. So we paid it plus the $35 for the wire transfer fee. The 2 tickets we received in France the year before could be paid on-line.


We now drive at least 10K/hr slower than we did 2 years ago in Europe.


Stu Dudley

The cameras are regularly tested and are more accurate at measuring your spped than your car speedo is. Usually a small percentage of leeway is worked into the speed to allow for that. So the chances are Whitehall that you were actually doing more than you were fined for. You can often request the photo for proof it was you if you are in any doubt.

Traffic cameras are a way of life in Europe. We all get fined occasionally, but the simple way to avoid being fined is to know the speed limit and stick to it. That is especially true in France (and the Netherlands) where there are often cameras just past the name town board. That board means you are in a 50 zone (unless it sayd 30 which increasingly they do!) and should be doing 50 as you cross that board, not several hundred metres down the road.

Pay the fine, assuming you were where the letter says you were at the time. Learn from it and nnext time drive a little slower and pay attention to the speed limits, which are not always posted. You are expected to know these things before you drive a car in that country, same as you are expected to understand roadsigns and priority rules.

At least you only get a fine, locals get hit with a fine and are in danger of losing their driving license. Pay the bill.

France has become extremely efficient at this. You have to watch the speed limit like a hawk.
I don't know what kind of advice you are looking for rather than to just pay the fine.

The OP may be curious about the timing. It sounds like the notice was mailed while they were still in France in early June, perhaps still driving the car.

And it took two months to arrive. It doesn’t change the result but I can see the timing looking odd.

Normal timing. The ticket goes to rental agency which in turn sends it to driver. I have something similar, as I have a leaased car, and tickets go via leasing company. I just got my last ticket from April early july. and yet I'm French... At least OP doesn't lose points on his/her driving licence, because when I see comments like 'we get 2 tickets per year' in France it would mean that you have no more driving license after 2-3 years.

We really loved our gps that would tell you speed limit as soon as it dropped. We were in and out of so many little villages in Feb I was sure we would get hit with a ticket but lucked out. The gps helped so much. Interesting to see how much your actual tickets will be.

Timing doesn't look odd to me. When I get a camera violation at home, it usually takes about a month for me to get it and that's within the same county.

I had a h*ll of a time trying to pay a speeding ticket I received in Germany. For some reason, I couldn't pay it with a wire transfer. I finally was desperate enough to send cash in a registered letter. I never had any further communication from the agency that issued the ticket, so I figured they got the money.

Europcar seems to be getting greedy, but that is their right since we all sign the contract that we do not read. The fee for being denounced for a traffic violation in a rental car used to be 25 euros. Then it went up to 30 euros. Now it seems to be 40 euros. Actually, last year I received a speeding ticket for a car I got from Europcar, but strangely enough, I did not receive the Europcar punishment fee. Maybe it was a mistake, or maybe they thought I was a good customer and I had suffered enough.

Just the other day, I was driving on the Parisian périphérique and there was a double radar flash around Porte des Lilas. I instantly looked at my speedometer and it said 62 km/h whereas the speed limit is 70 km/h so I suppose that it was another car that was flashed. If ever I receive a ticket for that moment, I think I will contest it. In any case, one interesting thing to know is that no more than 50% of the speeding cars that are flashed in France receive tickets because the photo is not always usable -- blurred licence plate or other anomalies....

The habits of US drivers makes trouble in foreign countries. Here, driving less than the posted limit gets you tailgated, beeped, high beam flashed, and middle fingered. If I drive on a highway at the posted limit, every car passes me. Seeing a speed limit and changing speed to slightly exceed it becomes a thoughtless habit.

A lesson learned
 

Thanks for all the replies. We have paid the one ticket that has come in the mail. At least France makes it easy to pay over the Internet, with English instructions. I have also contacted my credit card company to have them look into why their charges have no explanation.

A lesson learned
 

Thanks for all the replies. We have paid the one ticket that has come in the mail. At least France makes it easy to pay over the Internet, with English instructions. I have also contacted my credit card company to have them look into why the Europcar charges have no explanation. I have not received an explanation from Europcar after my inquiries.

The Europcar charges are completely normal. They have to charge you an administrative fee to pass your rental information along to the local police. I wouldn't bother pursuing this, and I highly doubt you'll get a response from Europcar. They've already been bothered by having to do their administrative bit on your behalf.