I used to be in Germany a few weeks in the past and curiously incurred two rushing tickets on the autobahn A9 in Bavaria. Apparently I exceeded a few velocity cameras at some point. I obtained the first ticket in the mail nowadays and am now not positive how to deal with it. Can absolutely everyone clue me in on how this works? I crudely translated the ticket on google translate, however am now not certain I apprehend how to pay and the repercussions for now not paying. Any assist is appreciated!
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
The ticket should include a bank account reference number (IBAN) starting with DE and a ticket reference number (Dossiernummer).
This should be enough info to arrange a bank transfer, which is the way to pay. Unpaid tickets may balloon into larger amounts that would be worth sending to a collection agency, so I would pay.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
I once got a ticket where a camera/radar got me for 1 mph over the speed limit on the causeway going out to Venice. The ticket came in almost 1 year later. They demanded I pay X Euros directly to the City of Venice checking account in Euros.
There are bill payment companies online that can charge your Visa account and will wire transfer the funds to their checking account with the ticket number. Their service charge was actually reasonable.
I have no idea what would happen if I didn't pay. Wasn't worth the headache if I didn't pay.
Posted by
Berlin
3008 posts
I deeply recommend to pay speed tickets and also ticket fraud penalties on public transports because as mentioned they can blow up into a crime, not only into an order offense. In this case your next entry into Schengen can become an issue - we read filed cases for this in newspapers (but more spectacular things like being arrested after arriving in a private jet for not paying a small thing).
Look for IBAN and BIC number and do a money transfer which contains your name and someting like a large number or letter/number combination (German wording "Aktenzeichen", "AktZ", Kassenzeichen", "Vorgang").
Since the rules of the legal processing are a little bit complicated a lot of Germans have a legal expenses insurance wich is very meaningful because the number of speed controls raised drastically in the last years. Estimation: During every 300 km Autobahn trip you can expect to pass 3-5 fixed installed or mobile check points.
By the way DeepL delivers better translations from German language into other languages than Google because it is a German team.
A German saying is that speed tickets are not there to be understood, they are there to be paid. So, you know what to do.
Posted by
Washington DC
28098 posts
A number of posters here have used the transfer service Wise (formerly called "TransferWise") to pay things like traffic fines and apartment-rental deposits. There have only been positive reports, and it seems the cost is quite low. Arranging a transfer through your bank would probably be much, much more expensive.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33851 posts
nataliejackson1957 it has been nearly 2 months since your post - how did you handle it?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33851 posts
Although this old post was woken by a spam link merchant, and we never heard back from the OP, this is still a salutary example - it is important, and anybody who thinks that all Autobahns are free of speed limits now knows better.
Possibly the offense was as a result of not slowing down for the 120 kph or 100 kph overhead gantries. They are seriously enforced and the limit starts immediately as you pass them.