If you were on a hire bike or car - pay up as the hire company will provide your details to the authorities and bill you an admin fee for the privilege. Authorities will then chase you for payment via debt collectors.
The hire company administration fee can in some cases be higher than the fine, as I know to my cost. Andy
I was in a hire and yes, I had to pay an admin fee. Or rather it was debited from my credit card. And yes, I received chest beating mail from Spain but certainly nothing like bailiffs. It doesn’t go to that level as far as I’m aware.
Since May 2017 I believe. Some info from the AA https://www.theaa.com/european-breakdown-cover/driving-in-europe/driving-offence-abroad What isn’t mentioned is that many EU countries (e.g. France) fine the registered owner rather than the driver. The U.K. fines the driver, which makes the process of fining a foreign resident for an offence in the U.K. after the fact difficult because the U.K. police can only obtain the registered owners details and have no idea who was driving.
I got Spanish speeding ticket last week. 136 in 100 zone 300 euro fine. Half if paid in 20 days. As my bike is still in spain with Sam 1199 I paid up. Wife was not impressed.
They don’t need to (in the case of hiring a vehicle, not when using your own) Hire company has your license and address details....... Have personally experienced this (Hertz Germany) and so have many of my colleagues.
.....and your passport details. With big data, and entrepreneurial debt collection agencies that can stitch it together and sell their services to lazy goverments that previously couldn’t be bothered, the days of escaping speeding fines in foreign lands are coming to an end. We can all assess the risks and take our chances but there is less and less room for analogue thinking in a digital world where every move you make leaves a traceable footprint.
You may or may not believe this but my mate has received a second speeding ticket. Now the problem with this is according to the first notice, he was done for 143k in a 120k limit on the A-23 at 15.29h at Klm:80. The second one reads 146 in a 120 limit on the A-23 at 15.28h at Klm:88.6............? Now then I ain't very good at maths, but feck me that bike of his is fast, I want one
It's easy for them to get your details as the database is shared but there's not a single case of them ever being followed up since the laws and insurance processes in the different European countries make it un-enforceable. Although I do make a token effort to not get more of them , I still seem to collect another one every few months when I go to Europe! You just get a nasty looking letter or two which I file in the bin. As far as I can tell there's no way for it to catch up with you if you get pulled over by the police in country at a later date other than possibly in Germany where I've heard stories they will make you pay any past fines (but I've still not had proof of this; @doogalman any ideas?).
The other thing is RWC is, those tickets were issued for the trip down. He's not sure now if he'll get any for the trip home now as well.
My mate did something silimar in California, but in the end he paid up about £300, mainly as he could imagine what SWMBO was going to say if he got stopped again on his next USA vacation.
