Speeding ticket??

I've never gotten one driving in France, but have been a passenger in a car where the driver realized he had gotten zapped by a camera. He didn't seem happy, but didn't seem to be as upset as if it had been a 195 Euro fine; he said he'd gotten zapped several times. The delay doesn't surprise me since I assume it was a rental car and it took awhile for the ticket to make its way to you, but the amount does.

I had a SF250 fine for an automated camera in Switzerland in 2009. I paid it when I got it. I got a parking ticket in Frankfurt in 1991 that I didn't pay. I hope that that doesn't come back up... Both came in the mail several (the one in 2009 maybe 4-5 months) after the trip.

I'm hoping we don't get one in the mail for accidently following our GPS (set wrong) to a restricted area in PAris...and driving down a bus only lane...oops...but for translating, if you don't mind typing it in, used google translate

I'm sure it's not authoritative, but according to the link below, the fine for speeding in France is 135 euros. http://tinyurl.com/qx34on Looks like the fine is the same whether you're 5 mph over or 50 mph over, but if you're French you get an increasing number of points on your license the faster you're going. Worth noting that the fine for using a cellphone while driving is also 135 euros, and for using a radar detector, 1500 euros!

Thanks for the link Tom. Fascinating how all the things that French drivers routinely do are subject to a fine. And some of the fines are incredible. Maybe the French are trying to crack down on their horribly dangerous driving habits. I didn't notice if there was a fine for driving too closely, but if there is, it's never enforced.

We got two speeding tickets in France this summer. I looked at the chart and they must have been minor offences. The charge was 45 Euros each if we accepted that we deserved the fine and paid online within 46 days of the fine notice (or 61 days if we were paying by bank card). The cameras caught us on 6/18/12 and 6/26/12. The date of the fine notices was the same, 9/28/12. Each incident had it own E-payment number which was the same as the number of the fine notice (No d'Avis de Contravention) on the payment card (Carte de Paiement) at the bottom of the fine notice. They had already contacted our car rental agency by 7/30/12. That's when we were charged 25 Euros per infraction for the agency to provide our info to the authorities. I typed the French from the fine notice into Google Translate to be sure I was understanding the French correctly. I went to the website listed on the back of the fine notice to pay with Visa online. My concerns about reading the French there were unfounded because it went straight to English. I noticed there were several other languages possible. I paid the fines the same day we received the fine notices, 10/10/12. The charges have already appeared on my Visa account, so I hope that will be the end of it. I must say, the French are very organized about this and paying the fines was very easy. We knew we were zapped the 1st time, but we didn't realize it the 2nd time. Unless the fine is absolutely outrageous, I doubt that we will ever contest any similar notice in the future. It's not worth it. Like this time, I will add the amount to our transportation costs for the trip.

Thank you everyone, at this point I am waiting a week or so to see if any more fines appear in the mail. When I typed into google translate- our fine for the one infraction, if paid within the month is 90 euro.... If we wait it is 135 euro. It seems to be only one ticket as it shows how many meters from a tunnel near nice we were driving and at what speed. .hopefully we are not also being billed by car rental !

So this scam still continues. I just returned from France 2 weeks ago, and within a week I had 3 speeding tickets sent in the mail. All were on the same road, just outside of Caen in Normandy, all within about a 30 mile radius of each other. Just as another poster indicated, I was following traffic. From what I understand, the government scans the cameras looking for rental cars, yes, they are identifiable, and once they pick up one, they target it and look at other cameras. That is why you can receive several tickets. And yes, they do specifically target rental cars because they know more than likely it is a tourist who will not be around to contest the tickets in court. You cannot even try to request proof of your speeding, such as a photo from the camera, they simply will not respond. You are stuck either paying the tickets, or dealing with future consequences when trying to rent a car in France. I also have a 80 euro ticket for going 5 km over the speed limit, that's less than 3 miles an hour here in the States! No wonder why the roads in France are so nice, all of us foreigners are paying for them! I do plan on contacting the US Embassy, although I don't expect much help. But it is worth warning other people. These issues tend to take place on smaller highways, not major ones like the A3, or on small country roads.

Came home from Italy and received two tickets for entering no-car zones even though both places, Bologna and Padua, had hotels that said they contact the police with our car's id when we arrive so not to worry...both hotels were in no car zones...the Bologna hotel when contacted did not respond but the Padua one begged us not to put any of this info on Trip Advisor...still poed for following the hotels' directions and getting huge tickets....

Both first time posters have woken up a thread which has been asleep for nearly a year. Just ranting accomplishes nothing, other people know that when you enter a village or town you must be 50 kph and that cameras will get you. If you want to rant use a trip report. If you want help ask a question. But use your own thread, the chances that the OP has dealt with her question are good.

Michelle, sorry but what you say is nonsense. You got tickets because you were speeding, period. First of all the cameras are automated, there is not an employee following cars behind each of them. Then no, rental cars are not recognizable by their plate number in France, they have the same numbers as the others cars. And guess what? French rental cars are mostly driven by... French people, the camera does not know that you are American. I live in France and can tell you, our roads are paid by our taxes, not your fines. If you were caught speeding in front of three successive cameras, your bad, because there are signs signalling them before each of them. It is no concern of the French authorities that you wouldn't have received a ticket in a similar case in the USA. You can always contact your embassy,yet I doubt they'll anything to have you escape the consequences of breaking th law in a foreign country, even for something as stupid as a ticket.

Michelle, if you got three speeding tickets in 30 miles that is because you we're speeding for 30 miles. It has nothing to do with being targeted.

I agree - the bottom line is that you were speeding, or entering a limited traffic zone, or whatever. It always amazes me that people are so indignant when they break the law and get caught. Spain also has signs warning you ahead of time when you are entering a radar area. My Spanish friends are very aware of them, and they slow down. "Going with the traffic" is no excuse.

Aha! So that is how they "target" rental cars and "scam" unsuspecting tourists. I'll bet those warning signs are not in English! So unfair.

Pay the damn ticket, Michelle, and stop whining about it. Is it a scam in New Hampshire when I get a ticket? How did this idea start that European countries conspire to give traffic tickets to Americans? How clever would they need to be to have traffic cameras that could ID the drivers as Americans and not French, Italian or Peruvian.

I agree with paying a ticket if you were speeding. My husband and I have received 4 speeding infractions from France when we were not in the country. We are assuming that our names are still connected with a rental car and rental scooters. Two of the tickets specified a car which we think is the rental car and the other two tickets were from a scooter rental that provided our names to the French authorities. I have contacted rentalcars.com and of course sent an explanation to the authorities in France and am waiting to see if anything changes and if we stop receiving tickets. I have yet to contact the scooter rental company. All of this becomes more difficult because of language differences. I have to rely on fluent French speakers to ensure I am understanding the information on the forms and to ensure that my responses are appropriate.
It is very frustrating. Any suggestions would be welcome!

so three months since this sleeping thread was last brought back from the living dead. As I said then, the OP probably has her answer by now and needs no further automatic emails from responses now. Can I suggest that if you have a question to which you desire answers, if you start your own thread then your specific needs can be met and it will be you that who is getting the emails whenever there is an answer posted. People answering are able to see the OP when posting so can refer back to it. If they reply to this thread they see the OP from last October which is only distantly related to your question.