Late payment of Austrian motorway vignettes

So I just came back from a weekend in Innsbruck, Austria. Our family's TomTom mentioned that we would be going through a toll road. I assumed that the toll would be paid at a toll booth like back home in the USA. But I discovered that this was not the case. I now know that you have to get a sticker - vignette. We drive a car rental and the car does have a sticker but am not sure how old it is or if it is valid. We just moved here a few months ago and have never driven outside Germany till this weekend. I've been told that in England you can pay tolls you accrue over the phone, text (?), within a certain time frame from when they were accrued.

So can I pay for these Austrian tolls somehow before I get a substitute toll - maybe by contacting the Toll collectors?

Any advice, similiar experience? -

Austrian tolls are nowt to do with the Toll Collectors( this is just for lorries/trucks in Germany, not cars). You were lucky the Austrians didnt catch you.

You can buy an Austrian years toll from ADAC for example - there are also short-term tolls.

Both the Austrian and the Swiss systems are quite simple. At the border, or at gas stations near the border, you can buy a sticker which allows you to use the highways. If you don't have one then the fine can be quite high - if you are caught. Otherwise there is no way to track a car and see if it has used the highways in question. So there is no late pay provision if you haven't been caught by police.

Swiss stickers are reasonably priced, so you just get a year sticker and you're done. Austrian stickers are quite expensive, and usually folks only get the short-term ones for however long they need it.

so there is no toll from munich to innsbruck for cars - only trucks? Or by the first reply to my post, do you mean that I got lucky that I was not caught not having one and they can not trace me back through the car?

thanks for the info. I learned a lesson - not to travel outside Germany until I check each countries driving rules/ requirements.

The Austrians might have caught you already. They have number-plate recognition systems on the border-adjacent Autobahns and an agreement with the German authorities to get driver/owner data of offending vehicles without a valid Vignette (permit to use the Autobahn). In this case they'll pass the fine back to the rental company, who may, or may not contact you depending on how high the fine is. Most rental companies simply take the charge from your credit card (possibly unbeknown to you you have already given them this authority). It'll take up to 3 months to filter through and there is very little you can do about it. Unfortunately there is no "after-the-fact" payment system. The signs that you require a Vignette in Austria are many and clear and not to have one is an offence. The usual fine for first-time offenders who accept their failing is €120, but if you don't pay the fine and are subsequently successfully prosecuted in court this can rise to between €400 and €3,000

BIPA, HEM,

First of all, I'm relieved to know that I would get a huge fine in the mail. But from now on, I will check each countries driving rules before I drive into that country. Which leads to my next question? How do you know when you crossed the border. Either I was not paying attention or I never saw a sign that said leaving Germany now entering Austria. Do these signs exist along the autobahn or do you just need to research on your own where the crossing point is?

there's a massive sign. you must have been driving with your eyes shut.

Was it the big sign that shows the different toll amounts depending on vehicle size?

The company "Toll Collect" runs the toll (Maut) system in Germany which is for trucks only - on Autobahn & few selected roads. Not for cars.

The Austrian system is different: tolls are levied for cars in Austria & some other countries...
There have been plenty TV reports (sponsored???) showing the Austrian nabbing cars from Germany on the Autobahn just inside their borders. Included a car full of nuns...

The border is clearly marked with a sign, and there are usually still buildings and structures showing where passports were checked in the old days, and where you can still buy a vignette. The speed limit is usually reduced when driving through this area. Often there are also large signs telling you the legal speed limits in Austria, and reminding you to get a vignette.

I wouldn't worry too much about the fine, although it might come. I used to live in Switzerland and often went to Austria on shopping trips. Usually I'd buy a vignette for the shortest period possible, but sometimes I didn't bother and I never got a fine sent to me by mail. There have also been times when I bought my vignette a few klicks inside Austria at a gas station rather than stopping at the border and I had no trouble. On the other hand, I usually already had at least one Austrian sticker on my windshield, albeit expired, so it is possible that to a casual observer it might have seemed that I had a valid one.

Wait and see, that's all you can do now. And next time pay a little more attention

no. big blue european flag with "Republik Österreich" written in the middle

And of course the road signs suddenly change from German to Austrian...

Thanks BIPA!

Now I know better. Also, know why our car rental had stickers peeled away. Like I said, we have a sticker on the windshield currently but have not idea if it is valid - 1 year etc, that the rental company may have placed on the car. But I must say that this whole process of buying a sticker seems is a pain to do and I can see how many may risk stopping to buy one. Toll Booths with attendants are luxuries to drivers (I guess).

The different Vignettes looks like this:

The front picture is the annual ("J") Vignette the rear two are month ("M") and 10-day ("T") Vignettes respectively. The numbers around the edges of the latter 2 are stamped with a small hole by the issuing station and indicate the day and month the Vignette began its' validity.

It depends which way you drive. If you go down the A95 via Garmisch, then you can make it to Innsbruck without paying. If you go down the A8 and subsequently onto the A12 Austrian autobahn, then you do need one.


They have only recently started to enforce the Vignette with cameras, so that is probably why you never got a fine in the mail. Previously they had to physically stop you.

To rant a little more about Austria, I have never seen a country out to get you more on the roads than here. Not only do they have this Vignette, but there are also normal tolls. Further to that, the road signs specifically direct you at times through the tolls, even though it would be quicker to just take the normal free roads. Going to Igls near Innsbruck is an example.

Further to that, they have stationary speed camera's everywhere, and in very unfair locations. I got zapped coming out of a 70 zone into a town. After I saw the flash, I went back to see, and the camera was literally 20m after the town sign (no speed sign, just a sign signifying you are entering a town, which means 50). I got the fine and I was only doing 61km/h! Luckily it was only 36 euros, can't complain too much at that.

And then they have the nerve to make you do 100klm/h on their super expensive autobahns! It's a joke. Such a relief once you hit the border back into Germany.

I agree about the Austrians, and they don't even have the decency to pull you over. The police hide in the bushes, pointing lasers at you from behind when they even bother to do that (a policeman can estimate your speed and that's enough evidence), and just post the fine with a note saying there is no legal avenue of appeal, the only option is to pay the fine. Naturally Austrian cameras are never faulty, positioned unreasonably or anything else

there is a car toll via a sticker if you go on the Motorway (which is fairly unncessary if you are just going to Innsbruck)


how do these number plate recognition thingies see if the vignette is valid or not!!

By the way, the Brenner motorway is subject to a separate toll which is payable at normal toll booths

At one point I remember having 5 Austrian stickers on my windshield. I wonder how good those cameras really are? Unless they have redesigned the stickers, I don't see how a camera can zoom in to that accuracy and still include the plate number. Oh, well... I'm no longer popping in and out of Austria all that often anymore, and haven't any stickers on my windshield at the moment, so I'll be more careful next time and get the sticker right at the border.

Thanks for the warning!

Oh... and you're right about those nasty speed traps

Our family helper (nanny) said that you can go from Munich to Insbruck without tolls via the country roads and not the autobahn. She said it takes about the same amount of time 1 hour 45 minutes.

A vignette is only required for Autobahn use. The country roads are often as quick (less traffic and parallel to many Autobahns) and are usually more picturesque...

A vignette is only required for Autobahn use. The country roads are often as quick (less traffic and parallel to many Autobahns) and are usually more picturesque...

Only trouble is that for someone that can't speak German, it is very difficult to determine whether a road is an autobahn or not. I go to Austria quite a bit and can speak German pretty ok, but I also get confused to the point where most of the time I just buy one to avoid any trouble.

There are some bits of autobahn that should be easy to avoid, like the bit from the German border on the Kufstein autobahn to the junction for Scheffau/Skiwelt and Kitzbuehl, but everyone else has figured this out so the traffic is bad and the local Austrian police tend to hang around looking for minor offences. In these cases it's often better to pay the 7 euro.

Except that the rules say that you are only allowed to have a valid sticker on your window - it the sticker is no longer valid, you have to remove it. That way you can't have 1 valid and any number of invalid stickers.

I got stopped once in Austria for an alcohol check. (No problem since I never drink any alcohol at all when I drive). Had my usual two or three Austrian stickers, plus two Swiss stickers and the cop never said a thing. I remember seeing lots of cars that had more than one sticker. Usually my mechanic would remove the old ones when I took the car in for service once or twice a year. But inbetween servicing I just kept adding stickers as I needed them and never once in three years was told by anyone to take off the expired ones. Perhaps they are now getting pickier with the camera systems that probably can be fooled by expired ones?

Do you mean the exit Kufstein-Süd? That particular bit of the A12 was, and as far as I can see still is, exempt from the toll.

I wish they'd do the same thing around Bregenz. I refuse to buy a vignette for the sake of 3 minutes worth of driving on the way to Switzerland, but usually regret being so stubborn after sitting an hour in the Bregenz traffic along with thousands of other miserly travellers.

Yes Matt T, that's the exit, but I'm not sure if it's exempt or not they tried to change it last season and I think they did but I'm not sure of the current status as I haven't been that way this year.

According to the ADAC you should have a vignette but if you haven't you will be warned but not fined, don't think the link will work because you have to be a member, but this is what it says in German: Auf dem Abschnitt Kiefersfelden (Grenze) bis Kufstein-Süd gilt die Kulanzregelung: Autofahrer ohne Vignette werden ermahnt aber nicht bestraft.

hello everyone! We are about to make a trip from Germany to Verbier, Switzerland, in a German rental car, and our intention is to cross Austria from Fussen via Landeck to Scuol and farther. It's a small road almost all the way exept for some 15 km on the motorway just before Landeck. We figured out there's no need to buy a vignette for just 15 km, so we will try to avoid the motorway. There is a yellow road running parallel. Anyone has ever done this route? Do u know if there are any traps along that stretch of motorway? Any difficulties to stay off the motorway? Any confusing points?

Definitely not the fastest way to Verbier (from the North you'd be much quicker coming through Basel, Bern, Montreux), but I guess you already know that.

I drove from Munich to Verbier this summer and did cut through the corner of Austria there - not the exact route you're suggesting; IIRC I went Oberstaufen, Lingenau, Lustenau, to meet up with the Swiss Autoroute. Lovely countryside (except for the flats around the Rhein), but you don't want to be in a hurry.

When I plug your suggested route into google maps, and ask it to avoid Mautstrassen, it does plan a route through Landeck, taking that road that parallels the Autobahn, so it looks like you should be alright.

I can't speak for that stretch of road, but there are vignette recognition cameras on many motorway stretches. As the Austrians have an agreement with the Germans to pursue traffic offence penalties any violation will come back to the rental company and ultimately you. For the cost of a vignette I'd say it's not worth it...

It must be fairly obvious on the maps (if you don't have a navi) which roads are autobahn and which are not. Also most of the internet route planners will plan a route to avoid autobahns.

But it is important to pick up a maut ticket. It doesn't always have to be at the border, as long as the autobahn isn't immediately starting at the border. A garage somewhere along the way will do. You will see cameras all over the place, often on the bridges of the motorways. For the small amount that a maut costs, it just isn't worth trying to get away with it.

no, no, u got me wrong, Spatown, we are not gonna violate the law, we wont get on the motorway at all , if possible. And since I read some comments about cops closing the free roads and forcing u into the motorway (was sth about Kufstein Sud) , i wondered if that have happened to any of u in this particular area around Landeck...

Just for completion - that 15Km of motorway you mention is one of the most heavily policed by the Austrian Vignette polizei for the obvious reason that everyone thinks like you - not worth buying the vignette for only 15Km - and it's worth avoiding it.

The stretch past Kufstein is an old battle ground. In the years gone by you've always been allowed to drive into Austria on the motorway without a vignette in most areas up to the first or second exit, which in the Kufstein area is enough to get you to some really good ski areas like Skiwelt and Kitzbuhl - these areas advertise that fact too. Then the local somebody in charge changed the rule and erected signs to the effect that you now had to buy a vignette which pissed off the tourists, of course, but also the locals (as the tourists in their thousands used the rather decent parallel vignette free local road instead), and the ski resorts as it hurt them too. A huge argument broke out and I think the change was repealed but I've kind of lost track now. It was amusing as a spectator, but annoying as I like skiing in Kitzbuhl.

The road markings change from white to yellow.