My husband was in charge of driving the family on our recent trip (January) to England. It was rainy, cold and the roads for the most part on the Southeast coast were miserable, in addition I watch the speedometer like a hawk, so when the car rental agency notified us that a police department had requested information about our car (tracing the license plate) for speeding, I was a bit shocked. Our credit card was charged for the information retrieval by Hertz, but we have yet to hear anything from the police department. We plan on driving in England many more times in the future and don't want to show up to rent our car only to find out my husband owes for a speeding ticket plus interest. Does anyone know what the next step is? Should we contact the police (the town is written on the letter Hertz sent us) and ask what we owe? Try and fight it? Pretend it never happened? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by
Scotland
505 posts
Greetings
With new EU law, info on driving infractions is now shared between countries. Thus it's a good idea to keep a clear record. If they're going to issue the ticket, they would get your contact information from the rental agency. You can't be accountable if they don't send you the ticket.
For a speeding ticket, it's 99% likely to be from a speed camera. Unless you know the area well enough to get off on a technicality, it will be very almost impossible to prove you weren't guilty because the speed is measured by machine and your picture was taken. The problem is that cameras don't care if you are 1mph over the limit or 10.
The police are very centralised, so there's no such thing as 'local police' in the UK. The regional police force (such as Thames Valley) would have substations in various locations, which is where the ticket would be issued.
Perhaps because they can't issue points on your license, it's not worth it to them to go through paperwork for the fine.
Kate
Posted by
Las Vegas, NV, USA
190 posts
Had the same thing happen after a trip to Scotland except that Hertz didn't notify us, the police did. They asked for a response which we sent; then they cancelled the fine. It all took time - about 4 months total, but I was able to drive in the UK on our next trip. I think they were shocked to hear from me and that that is why the fine was cancelled.
The ticket and all the correspondence make a unique entry in my scrapbook!
Posted by
dallas, tx, usa
1358 posts
?If they asked for information about your car
what did the rental agency tell you?
Most police will stop you at the time and
cite you for a violation. I paid a fine of $16
in Slovakia at a roadblock on the highway
for speeding through a village.
How much was the charge for information
retrieval and how did they charge you?
When my rental agency received a citation
for my passing a toll booth in Oslo without
paying, they charged my credit card and sent
me a copy of the citation. I had no say in
the matter.
My understanding of the method of paying a
fine in most European cities is that the auto agency is cited as the owner of the car and they pay the fine.
You should not hear from the police because they won’t have your name or address.
Posted by
Ardmore, PA, US
225 posts
Well then. The fine was paid by the rental car agency and you could theoretically dispute the CC charge. You should have been afforded the opportunity to pay the fine yourself, but I don't know UK law about this issue.
Good luck.
Posted by
OP
Cincinnati
5 posts
Thanks for all your answers. The rental agency was fairly detailed in what they did and why they did it. According to the invoice on 01/05/08 we were on Old London Road (it's a really long road that goes through several towns, but we're pretty sure it was near Hastings). They charged our card £35.25 to give the local authority our name and address because we were caught speeding. It says payment of the fine is ours and we should be notified soon by whoever is sending it. That was back on 01/21/08. It's discouraging to think he may have only been driving a mile or two above the speed limit at the precise time the camera could catch him and because it was a machine couldn't distinguish between 42 or 49 and sent the request out. I still may try and pay the fine, if there is one, simply because I don't want my husband wondering if they'll say something to him the next time we visit.
Posted by
OP
Cincinnati
5 posts
I have a penalty notice number and a reference number which should enable me to track who we need to contact. It would be easier if I had an actual town instead of relying on our memory of where we think we saw a camera. I think our next step is to contact the customer service people at Hertz UK and get some more details if they have them.