Experiences with speeding tickets and fines

Hiya, long story, sorry !

Got caught speeding the other week, bad lad, doing an excessive amount on a road in Munich. Been waiting for the ticket which finally arrived on Saturday morning.

When I got caught, it was with a handheld camera, and I promptly pulled over to the side of the road where I was processed. There was about 10 cars already in there, so they must have made quite a few Euros off that little production line !

The thing is: I spoke to the copper and he told me what I was doing, and looked at a chart in his van which told him the punishment. 175 Euro fine, 4 points, and a 2 month ban. Ok fair enough, it's a fair cop.

When I received the letter from them, I've got the same points and ban, but the fine is now 375.07 Euro !. I checked the letter to find the following statement

"Die Geldbuße wurde wegen vosätzlicher Begehung erhöht"

I think I undertsand what that means, but it seems a bit high. They've more than doubled it !

If you go on the Police website, you can check what you would get if you theoretically got caught doing a certain speed in a certain area, and also, what you got when YOU were caught. You type in the fine number, and they show you what you are being fined.

Both of these services, told me that 175 Euros is correct.

Any ideas, anyone suffered the same problem, any (serious) advice ?

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers

Munki

They think you were going too fast on purpose, so it wasn't a case of being 10 or 20 kmh over the limit, for the law, you were travelling too fast and knew it or should have known it.

It may also be that due to the condition of the road at the time including weather, traffic , obstructions etc should have indicated to you that a slower speed would be appropriate.

seems a bit excessive, although they do add administrative fees to the 175€. Is there any late penalty involved? (Doesn't sound like it though..)

makes sense. you were bombing down the road in an urban area. how much over were you, and what was the limit? its allon the bit of paper. you could contest it. what car were you driving? and have you any other speeding offences on record?

Have you been done before on this stretch of road, because it sounds to me that they are saying that you knew you were speeding. i.e. you've got previous, as they say in The Sweeney.

Just found this link, it's all in German but explains the terminology.

you must have been going pretty quick! Like 120 in a 50 zone Does seem strange to up the stated penalty so much though

110 in a 50 zone ?

So basically they're saying you were going so fast that you must have known you were breaking the speed limit but decided it was worth the risk of getting nicked. I have to say I quite often drive at 18kph over the speed limit,, using the cruise control, on the Autobahn, because you only get a fine and no points for under 20kph over the limit, but using this rule they could possibly do me as well, because it's quite obvious when you use cruise control, noboby drives at exactly the same speed without it.

if that was the case forget contesting. pay the fine and dont be so silly next time.

That's going beyond silly.

Sometimes that rule is used when people speed through roadworks, there's been a recent crackdown on that.
If you do 70+ speed limit in town, that's an automatic 3 month ban now.

I would have thought almost everyone knows (most of the time at least) that they are speeding when they are speeding, so to speak

but they should have told him that when he got stopped. when & who decides when it was on purpose? i would contest it or at least call and protest. that is an outrage!

and if 10 other folks got caught too, sounds like a speed trap anyhow.

I suppose you mean 70kph over the limit (so 50+70=120, 60+70=130), not 70kph when the limit is 50kph, for instance?

That's what I meant, 70kmph over the given limit, not 70kmph per se.

Going at least 55 kmh over the limit in a 50 kmh zone (if that was the case, I just worked it backwards from the fines catalog) sounds like the outrage to me.

I think it's easy to accidently go over the speed limit by 10-15kph, people get caught up with the general flow of traffic, concentrate on the traffic around them and neglect to keep an eye on their speedo all the time. The law here allows for that, only a fine up to 20kph and also automatically knocking 3 kph off the registered speed, after that you're probably right.

A quick question for you all, if you are caught speeding and receive a fine, points and an ban like speed racer here, what happens if you still have a uk or Irish licence? Can they impose the ban? as far as i know they cant put points on your licence here, but am i correct in saying that?

I havent been caught speeding or anything, just curious

Phew!

They take your license away from you and record the points against your name in Flensburg.

tbh, i think anyone who is way over (i am not talking of 10-15kmh) the speed limit deserves everything they get (ie fine, points and no driving licence)

as mentioned above - you have to surrender your licence. And you will get German (Flensburg) points but not UK points (ie you won't get any points marked on the paper bot of your licence)

anyone doing the sort of speeds in town that acquire such a collection of penalties deserves a good kicking in a dark alley for being such a selfish bastard.

pay up and be glad you're not getting a jail sentence to add to that little lot and don't be such a bloody idiot next time.

jeez easy going guys.. he knows he/she was being a tit, and was asking for advice.. no point in fuckin crucifying him/her

tbh he didn't say that he was doing 110 in a 50, that is pure speculation !

Thats true..

Not enough info for the Jurors to work with..

Lets have some more info, then we can hang you!

ok then!

It's speculation based on what the police said to him and that he posted that he was in Munich at the time.

A speed of 55 kmh in excess of the speed limit, within a built-up area, produces exactly the fine he posted as being quoted to him by the policeman on the spot.

we are not crucifying him, this is TT!

i would however pay the fine by the deadline they give as they add quite some extra costs for delaying...you can always contest the amount later

be it in or outside the city, that's a ridicuous speed to be going over the limit, ie >100% norvernmunki needs to be shamed for doing that, so that he hopefully won't do it again. what would have happened if a kid had run out at that speed? christ, at that speed, an olympic athlete on steroids wouldn't have been able to jump out of the way. he hadn't just 'wandered' over the limit but was driving like a nutter based on the calculations and deserves to be lambasted for it.

(written by someone who has been in two fatal car crashes, one of which involved a pedestrian coming in through the windscreen and back out again, after he'd stepped out from behind a bus on an open country road. dead within 30 minutes and i wasn't even near the speed limit)

Hi,

Yes I was far over the limit, and I fully accept that it was stupid. I won't be doing it again (Well for the next two months anyway !...only joking)

For the person who asked (Gideon?), it was a Porsche, which the people who got on their high horse will be glad to know is for sale now !

For the record, it was almost 100% over, and I do deserve the punishment, just couldn't figure out why the fine was increased.

Thanks for the replies people

munki

Oh, and I wanted to add, I've been driving sixteen years (including 11 in England, where speeding tickets are thrown about like confetti) and these are the first points I've got, so don't judge me on one moment of madness !

Having no points doesn't automatically mean you are a safe or a law-abiding driver. Equally, having points doesn't mean you are an unsafe driver. Insurance companies tend to agree (in the UK at least).

Granted, but it does "suggest" that I'm not Mad f*cking Max.

Ah but maybe you are a stealth speeder which suggests a certain level of intelligence and driving skill.

Although, from what I've heard about the green and pleasant land it's heavily sprinkled with the souvenir boxes so 11 years without a ticket suggests that you drive carefully or you only recently discovered where the handbrake is.

Ninja Speeding Munki

Yeh but in blighty 90% of the boxes don't actually work, they give you a nice sign to say one is coming up, and then go and paint it bright yellow just incase you still haven't clicked. You need to be quite stupid to get caught by one.

But then the police have their secret weapon, the mobile speed camera. Unlike fixed cameras they don't need to show that it is a dangerous road or anything before setting up. This means they tend to use them on the safest roads in order to catch as many people as possible, not on the most dangerous roads to prevent as many accidents as possible. I speak from experience

They should have tripled it and impounded your car. Now where is that annoyance thread.

Oh relax people, everyone speeds at some point (except me but I'm a shitty driver).

no high horse mate, just wanted to know as if you appealed the car you drive can make a difference. with a porsche you will be prejudged as aspeed egomanic, even if you a saint. still dont do it again mate, moments of sillyness can turn out to moments you'll regret for the rest of your life.

sGb27 - The road was Winttrichring, a rather large dual carriageway. They'd set the mobile camera on a part where there was no resdiential property. However, that was NOT a gripe about the incident. (Before anyone writes to tell me what a bad man I am)

In Leeds, there are cameras everywhere, the road to Leeds Bradford airport has about 8 cameras in four miles. How people keep hold of their licenses is a mystery to me.

Eurovol - When he told me the speed, I was a little shocked, I didn't realise I was going that fast. I knew I had my foot down, but I was late for a flight home. By the way, again, that's NOT an excuse ! When I saw the punishment, I did think it could have been worse, so no complaints from me.

Gideon, cheers for the clarification. wasn't talking about you being on your high horse actually, but anyway. Yeah, point taken.

A general question:

Do speeding fines and points really work. Or are they just a factor like higher fuel prices that may have a slight effect on peoples behaviour but don't really change your basic attitude ?

Depends on the person. I think if someone drives like a tosser, they're gonna do it whatever. As you say, same as people wanting to drive whatever the cost of fuel, or wanting to drive into the centre of London, even though they have to pay for it.

UK points certainly work if you reach 9 I think (ie only 1 offence away from a ban)

By sticking to the speed limit perchance?

Just got notice of a speeding fine from Bremen from 2 months ago.

To add insult to injury Sixt are demanding 7.50 as well.

Quite a nice picture though.