Speeding Ticket in Spain

Once you exceed the posted speed limit, you break the law. If you were to go 6 mph over the limit in Florida, the fine would set you back $129. Check in your home state to see how much a similar ticket would cost you. Many people complain about speeding fines in Europe until they learn that a similar transgression at home would have cost them even more.

Thoughts?

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

so you were travelling at 10% above the speed limit, just pay the fine and remember to keep your foot off the gas next time.

For future reference Sixt charge less to provide your details to the authorities.

The rental car agencies in Spain should really warn drivers about the steep speeding fines

Probably to them that is "normal", and assume its like that in the US, so see no need to tell customers that their traffic laws are enforced.

and it is regularly discussed here on the Forums. If you can only find anything several years old you may be a new reader of the Forums and may need help with the search facility. Not a week goes by without a reference in one Forum or another.

You break the law, you pay... like we locals do when we're caught. Period.

This was ildikomorris first posting so doubt if he/she spent much time looking back at prior postings. Am amazed when people complain about fines. Too bad the radar didn't recognize that it was an American tourist so that the fine could be waived.

["To bad the radar didn't recognize that it was American tourist so that the fine could be waved."]

If you're going to be snarky, it helps to know how to spell...

I have been reading and lurking on this Spain forum for 6 months now and this is the first speeding post I have seen. Those who state that it is a frequent post, must read a lot more forums that the OP or we who stick to the country of current need.
As I have never had a speeding ticket and at home have been known to 'drive the speed of traffic' which on the highway can be 20-30 kms over the limit, I would also not be thrilled to receive a ticket of this amount for driving 8 km over the speed limit, though I might not have posted about it.
Sadly, lesson learned is to check local practice and keep to the signage. When I drive to the US, I really watch the speedometer. Some states either have speeding ticket quotas or just a whole lot of cops available for speed traps. In Italy, if you don't keep up with traffic regardless of speed limit, you might find a Punto in your back seat. Gauge the traffic, but try to keep within posted speeds.

I don't think you can expect a rental agency to warn you - this is not America where customer service goes beyond the basics. These are also the agencies that charge you for every ding whether new or pre-existing.

I personally would be a bit insulted if a car rental agent warned me about speeding. First, it is condescending and second it is not his/her place to do so. I hope my spelling is OK.

Nigel's comment referred to many posts on multiple forums regarding people receiving speeding tickets in many countries -- don't believe I have ever seen anyone say "don't pay attention to speed limit signs."
It isn't just in Spain ... Or France, Italy....
P.S. I just searched for "speeding ticket" and got 281 results.

I received a speeding ticket during my May 2017 trip and the fine was stated as €100. Mine was from a speed camera not from being pulled over. If you promptly pay the fine on the website (www.dgt.es) you should only be charged €50. It seems there is a discount. Avis never contacted me so I didn't get that fee (it did notify me when I got a ticket in Germany.) The website has instructions in English for paying the fine and you will need to enter your passport number.

My ticket was going 82 km/h in a 70 km/h. I used Google maps to locate the exact spot since the ticket states the road number and kilometer marker. The camera was about 20 feet after the speed change.

Thank you for posting this super-helpful comment! We also got our ticket from a camera, so were surprised to get it in the mail a month later. We got the full ticket translated and learned as you did that if you paid (within 20 days of receiving the letter) the fine was greatly reduced to 50 euros which was great news. And agreed it was super-easy to pay online.

Good to know for next time...

Ildi -
I received a few tickets also while driving in Germany and Italy over the past few years. Too bad none of the readers here offer too much helpful information other than the saintly, "you should only drive the speed limit". In Germany, drivers literally fly past you at 200 km/hour and so you naturally assume you can go 150 or so without a worry. There I believe they have some type of signage that alerts locals and those with knowledge that a camera is coming up. They then slow down. Maybe someone who has a bit more information would like to share the secret that the locals know. And on another note, I'm not so sure they don't target tourists who speed.

You have to not put so much stock in this forum as a source of authority on travel.

"I'm not so sure they don't target tourists ......"

How do you suppose the camera can do that? Are Europeans so advanced technologically that their cameras can differentiate between a tourist's rented car and a local person's rented car? Are locals' rented cars allocated a different series of licence plate numbers so they don't get speeding tickets? Not fair, I say, just not fair!

We got one just like you, same amount. Paid online after navigating to find English, pd within 30 days fine dropped to 50 euros. We were going 8 klicks over too. Recommend paying it.

Ah no Norma, that's easy: when you disembark at the airport or at the port, you're stamped out a "TOURIST" sign on your forehead, which is not to be removed for the length of your stay -penalties are severe. This way we can easily identify tourists from the rest of us, normal people, LOL!

By the way, if you're fined (traffic-related) anywhere in Catalonia (Barcelona, Girona, etc), you can (should!) go to this URL and pay the fine there: http://web.gencat.cat/en/tramits/que-cal-fer-si/sancions-de-transit/

Spain's a bargain.

In France it was 100 euros for 6 kilometers over the speed limit and no reduction for immediate payment. Knowing how strict it is in Europe and how efficient the cameras are, we knew it would happen one day. And it did.