In June 2001, I was caught on camera doing 124kph in a 120 kmph zone. To make things complicated, I was driving hire car with German Plates, so by the time I was traced, the summons was sent to me on 15th Jan for a 31 Euro fine
Am not proficient in Dutch but the only way to pay is via a euro cheque or through a dutch post office or bank. How does an ordinary non Euro tourist pay this ? I sent a 20 quid note to a dutch associate who sorted it out for me but what about others ?
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124kph in a 120kph zone and they done you? If thats what European integration will do, count me out. I assume you are resident in GB, if so you could have ignored the ticket. They cannot extradite you for motoring offences. Not yet, anyway...
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Can't extradite you,no;but one day you'll enter their country;I used to enter Germany every couple of weeks and occasionally my passport was fed into their computer;your unpaid fine will show up oneday and you won't get in.People entering the USA have already found it pays to be honest.
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There is no way a ticket was issued for 4 km over the limit anywhere in Europe not at 120km in Germany it would fire at 135 and Holland the same.Somethink does not add up.If they took a copy of your credit card on hire they would just deduct this at alater date
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In the Netherlands there is no 120 kph. zone;their national limit is 100 kph.That's why you were flashed.
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Interestingly enough a French girl who lived with us for a while was photographed exceeding the 40 limit ( by a reasionable margin ). She sent off her details and French licence but the authorities didn'y know what to do with it and referred the matter to a court. Two years later and we haven't heard any more.
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All very well to ignore it and not pay, but they would probably nick you the next
time the Polizei caught you.
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Much lower down the scale of cost, I got a parking ticket in Venlo, Holland, which I dealt with from UK. They insisted on writing to me in Dutch (said it was Local Government policy) but did add a note sying the "Translation is up to you". I wrote back in English saying I had no access to a Dutch linguist and the whole thing died. This was probably because we were talking about a non-endorsable offence and about £10.
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>>All very well to ignore it and not pay, but they would probably nick you the next time the Polizei caught you.
Certainly in the US. A few years back a friend visited me in Tahoe. We decided to drive to Las Vegas, she was driving. We drove at 60 past the sign which said 40. If we had seen it, we would have slowed down.
Anyway, got pulled, she got a ticket. About 6 weeks later she got a letter telling her to pay. She didn't.
9 months later, pulled again in Las Vegas, failing to come to a complete stop. It was early in the morning, by 11 she was in front of the local judge for both offences and a considerable extra sum for not paying the last one.
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This is a good point. If you rack up parking tickets, speeding fines or other minor motor offences it is fine if you leave the country and do not drive their again and get stopped. But if you return and get pullled over, you could be up the creek. A freind of mine was given a £750 fine in GB four yrs back for driving a GB car without tax, MOT or insurance (an idiot) and never paid, he returned to France some months after the offence giving my adress as his GB contact to the police. The letters of demand and an actual visit from a balift only stopped when i told the authorites that he had left the counrty and did not know his whereabouts.
In this extreme scenario it 's easy to see how you can get away with a hell of a lot, but they will nearly always have a record of you, especially if we'er talking big bucks! And my advice to the friend in this story has been, don't drive in the UK, ever!
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I feel sorry for the guy who bought my old 325 - if he ever drives in France he could be in for a nasty surprise, as I managed to avoid a speed trap - the 'Pommes Frites' never caught up with me, but I'm sure they got my number...
Martin.
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Thanks, I paid up in case my past catches up. My issue is that banks over here rip you off to give you a euro cheque. You cannot send cash so it is catch 22
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credit card ?
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Send them a Euro travellers cheque which you can buy cheaply at your local Post Office.
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Ajit
You accept without moaning and bleating that you were speeding under circumstances re the fine where a little bit of this, little bit of that, you know what I mean, you could avoid payment. But what do you do? Attempt to accept your responsibility to pay.
Gentlemen of The Forum all stand - an honest man amongst us.
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Fair comment DVD.
I've enjoyed driving in a safe rewarding manner for over 25 years now. Just one speeding ticket many years ago. Happy to pay up and take the punishment.
As you said somewhere else...
Eyes and feet, eyes and feet.
David
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I also remember a compatriot of mine stopped for speeding in Essen-driving an aircraft carrier-Mk.IV Zodiac to you.He was just getting ready to explain he did not speak any German when the policeman said "Good Morning" in excellent English.He paid up.
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