Got nabbed for speeding in Austria

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andya700

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Andy
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Guess what dropped through my letterbox this morning?
A speeding notice from my lovely holiday in Austria. It appears that I was 9KPH over a 50KPH limit, and the fine (which I intend to pay) is 40 Euros. I think I know where and when it happened, and I do know that I was slowing down from 70KPH because I was entering a built up area. I remember it because I was being tailgated by a black Mercedes for a couple of miles who didn't like me sticking to the speed limit. I also now know, that they do not always display speed limits in Austria.

http://www.visitingvienna.com/transport/road-speed-limits/

My question is, whether anyone lese has paid a foreign traffic fine, and how did they do it, and what sort of bank charges are involved. I have the relevant bank details - IBAN number and BIC reference.
The letter was dated 8th November and it has to be paid within four weeks or further action will be taken.
 
I was chased for 18months for a parking ticket in Rome.Paid it in the end as it now seems they were prepared to hand it over to a uk debt collection agency with a huge markup.
I know the Swiss now chase for speeding fines also. I think the rules recently changed about sharing drivers details. Maybe that'll go with Brexit?

Just pay the fine, no bank charges for mine but exchange rate


If you get fined but not stopped (e.g. caught by a Speed Camera) the police will send you the fine even if you live abroad. In Switzerland, speeding is not a violation of a traffic code but a Legal Offence, if you fail to comply there is a good chance that an international rogatory will be issued and you have to go to court in your home country. This is enforced by most countries, including all of Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and many countries in South America and Asia. Failure to comply can result in a warrant being issued for your arrest by your home country.
 
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you can pay via the IBAN but can be a faff to set it up in you online banking.
 
andy700 said:
My question is, whether anyone lese has paid a foreign traffic fine, and how did they do it, and what sort of bank charges are involved. I have the relevant bank details - IBAN number and BIC reference.
The letter was dated 8th November and it has to be paid within four weeks or further action will be taken.
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I was caught by a camera in France in the summer. The option was provided to pay by CC so I did that. I believe they can and do chase unpaid fines, although mine did not result in points being added
 
Send them a cheque, full of staples :)

Seriously is there no online address on the ticket?
 
I have not paid a speeding fine but I have paid for holidays in France and Germany using TransferWise. Their fees are a fraction of what a bank will charge.
 
Suvv said:
I have not paid a speeding fine but I have paid for holidays in France and Germany using TransferWise. Their fees are a fraction of what a bank will charge.
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Thanks for that, the Nationwide charge £20 for a Swift transfer to a European bank.
 
TransferWise used to do 2 types of transfer, in one you said exactly how many pounds you wanted to send and they send euros according to the exchange rate when the transfer takes place and add on their fee, in the second you say exactly how many euros you want to send and they charge you what they think the euros could cost, depending on the exchange rate, plus their fees, they then refund you as the actual exchange rate is always better than what they originally charge you. They do it that way to cover their outlay if the exchange rate were to go really bad.
 
...... or you could use a Halifax Clarity card?

Just pay in Euros and then pay statement in Sterling when it comes.
 
Use TomTom next time when in Austria. Its not much good in Italy or Switzerland but at least it works reliably there.

Also I only give tailgating cars two options: back off or overtake. I'm not a slow driver but I'll happily annoy dangerous idiots who get too close.
 
Just a quick update.
I have been tearing my hair out over the past couple of days, because I couldn't send the payment using Transferwise, because it didn't like the IBAN/bank details I am sending the money to. I have double and triple checked the details, and I am used to sending foreign payments for hundreds of thousands of pounds. I am now trying to use Western Union and exactly the same thing is happening, it is saying "Please check your receiver's bank information". The other problem I now have, is that it doesn't allow you to enter a reference number.
 
Can you email anyone to explain the difficulties you are having?
 
Tigger.ufo said:
Can you email anyone to explain the difficulties you are having?
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I eventually managed to send it, and hopefully they will receive the full 40 Euros. I still could not send a reference but I do have what looks to be an email on the letter, so will try sending the ID number by that means.
What a total faff!

Just sent an email and it has been rejected because of an invalid email address.
Oh well, you can only try so hard and then give up.
I have had confirmation from Western Union that the money is in their account.
 
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I got an Australian parking ticket through the mail yesterday, for parking in the street, facing the wrong way. $183 :eek::eek::eek:
They didn't even put a ticket on the windscreen.
Robbing barstewards.
 
Glad you eventually got it sorted, Andy, but what a PITA!

Thinking about it, maybe it's an intentional ruse so the actual process of trying to pay the fine, will be more persuasive in discouraging speeding than the fine itself. ;)
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
I got an Australian parking ticket through the mail yesterday, for parking in the street, facing the wrong way. $183 :eek::eek::eek:
They didn't even put a ticket on the windscreen.
Robbing barstewards.
Click to expand...

That is a pretty heavy fine for an offence like that.
 
Mine was 120 Euros for parking outside the hotel in Rome for 2 mins whilst we dropped the bags at reception. I then drove to the hire company to drop the bags off...
No parking signs I was aware of, no road markings, lots of other cars parked there...
 
Hire cars are easy pickings!

In Crete (possibly elsewhere in Greece as well), there is parking on alternate sides of some roads according to the month. This is signified by a I or a II struck through, with the I meaning no parking in odd numbered months (Jan, Mar, May etc.). Never got a ticket, even during the 10 or so years I didn't know what the signs meant!
 
Byker28i said:
Mine was 120 Euros for parking outside the hotel in Rome for 2 mins whilst we dropped the bags at reception. I then drove to the hire company to drop the bags off...
No parking signs I was aware of, no road markings, lots of other cars parked there...
Click to expand...

Italy is a 'special' case, where you can be parked with local cars & receive a fine while they do not. On our Cretan holiday I got a fine for parking where the locals did (they also got fined) but that was cut from 80 to 40 euros for prompt payment.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
I got an Australian parking ticket through the mail yesterday, for parking in the street, facing the wrong way. $183 :eek::eek::eek:
They didn't even put a ticket on the windscreen.
Robbing barstewards.
Click to expand...
Had you checked any parking regs before you went?
 
I didn't check the Austrian rules and regs before I left, simply assuming that they would be similar to France and Germany.
However, one thing is very different and it is the one thing which caught me out.
In Austria, the 50 KPH limit is very often NOT displayed when you enter a built up area, you have to look out for the black on white town/village name at the side of the road.
 
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