speeding ticket in Ireland

Does he have an Irish driving license or a NJ one?

No, no, no. They cannot assess two points to a NJ driver's license unless there is some secret treaty somewhere that gives them access to NJ records.

Nicole: Is that what you are advocating for Europeans who get traffic tickets in California?

Unless you have a UK or Irish licence the points will have no impact, simply pay the fine and that should be the end of it. A record will be kept of the points and should he ever be stopped in the British Isles in the future for a traffics offence it could become an issue as exceeding the limit to that extent is a serious matter.

My husband got a speeding ticket in The Netherlands a few years ago - presumably via a highway camera. Circular file.... Later this autumn the Schengen information system will be loaded with European wide data relating to traffic offences and outstanding warrants, it remains to be seen what the impact will be....

Jim: Now that's interesting!! Maybe the "circular file" will not be put to use by some scoff-laws with such gay abandon.

We have paid 3 European speeding ticket fines so far. I say so far because my husband has a somewhat heavy foot, so there may be others in our future. Two were from France in 2012, came to us quickly after we got home and were very easy to pay online with my Visa. The website was even in English. The 3rd was from Switzerland. The infraction happened around the end of June in 2011 and we received the notice of the infraction in March of this year. That one was more difficult to pay as there was not an online Visa option. We could only pay by bank transfer and that process cost more than the fine itself. All were from cameras. All were cheap by comparison to the ones my husband has had to pay when he was caught on camera here in AZ. None of the infractions were for very many KM over the limit, but we think it's a privilege to be able to drive in the countries we visit and figure paying the fines is justified, no matter how small they may be. My husband likes to drive...anywhere...and doesn't want to potentially be barred from that on our trips. We just budget it into our transportation costs. I say pay the fine and be done with it. Sidebar: In France in particular, when we would come into a small town, typically there was a flashing sign showing how fast we were going and how fast we should be going. However, one town didn't do that. They just had a smiley face and a frowny face. I am so sorry we didn't turn around and go back so I could take pictures of that.

.....got a speeding ticket in The Netherlands a few years ago ..... Remember - Past performance is not an indication of future performance. A few years ago was probably ten or more years and so the circular file was a reasonable response given the inability of the local authorities to find you. But with the internet, massive data bases, etc., the ability to track someone world wide is vastly improved. There have been reports here of Italian traffic tickets being turned over to US based collection agencies. No reports yet on how successful that technique is but it is only a matter of time. I can remember a time (60s and 70s) when I would throw away any ticket in another state or city. Not so easy now and I am more careful. So encouraging someone to pitch a ticket today may not be the smartest advice.

From what I understand, it is the law of the state of your driver's license that determines what kind of points will go on your record. For example, NJ adds two points for all out-of-state traffic convictions, even if your points for the violation would have been different in-state. However, I am not sure what the law in NJ is regarding out-of-country infractions (or whether anything even exists on the books). If you really are curious, check out the laws in your state.
Also, in DC and MD, if you are caught speeding on camera, you are required to pay a fine, but no points are assessed (hope that is still the same because there are lots of speed cameras here!). Again, it all depends on the law of the land you live in!

Dumb question: I thought tickets would be issued to the registered owner of the car. This I reckoned was the rental agency who would then come after you to be reimbursed for the fine? Not so?

No, generally the rental agency forwards your names because as part of the rental agreement you agree to pay for road tolls, tickets, fines, etc. incurred during the rental period. And, then the rental agency charges you a fee for that "administrative service" that they provided. It is your responsibility.

I like to thank all of you for your repleis. We pay the ticket so we have no problem in the future when we go back to Ireland. We will see late about the points. Diane

Diane, Although the rental firm technically owns the vehicle, the renter becomes responsible for some things when they sign on the dotted line. Here's an excerpt from the EuropCar rental agreement: "You will be liable for any offence committed during the rental period which relates in any way to your use of the Vehicle, as if you were the owner of the Vehicle. Upon the request of the Police or any official body Europcar may have to transfer your personal data. Such transfer will be done in accordance with the data protection Laws of the country of rental." I'm sure the other firms have similar clauses in their agreements. Happy motoring!