Police traffic cameras and driving penalties

I think I was picked up by one of those traffic cameras when I mistakenly turned right on red.

Does anyone know how much the fine for doing that is?

Greatly appreciate any information!

Ooh. You could be in trouble there. Not sure what the fine is but two friends of mine were caught on such traffic light cameras and lost their licences for one month.

I got caught last year bang to rights. Went down to the cop shop where the very pleasantly rotund officer showed me a rather spiffing photo of myself and Badger doing 57 in a 30 zone (or maybe it was 75 in a 50 zone). Anyway, I signed for that and got sent a €30 bill in the post. Oh and he was kind enough to make me a copy of the photo to take home with me as a souvenir. Bish, bash, bosh, end of story. I've been flashed twice since and heard nothing about it. Maybe you'll get lucky.

Thank you for your responses... greatly appreciated. Everyone have a great week!

If they "flashed" you within one second of the light turning red it's a €50 fine and 3 points on your license.

If it was more than a second after the light tuned red then it's €125, loss of license for a month and an additional 4 points on it when you get it back.

See for confirmation: bussgeldkataloge.de

Note that you can choose when you loose your license so long as it's within 6 months of the offense being confirmed (and accepted)

YL6

But, if it's a US license, they can't seize it. What would they do in this case?

Hunt you down and put you in the klink for a bit until you payola...

Actually the pix are taken out of the camera every few days to once a week depending on how many pix it takes.. Just grab a small jar of some 99% pure sulferic acid and put a few drops on the tops of the camera.. Not only will your pic be gone, but they'll have to replace the entire camera... Do it at night and don't get caught.

I have a British driving licence an d have been done a couple of times. the last time i was cáught in Munich i was doing 81 in a 60 limit. This cost me €100 and i should have got one point but because of the British licence they left it at that. My other half got done a couple of days ago doing 63 in a 50 limit. €35 and no points.

so don't worry, unless the photo was really really bad!

If you plead your case credibly, you might get away with just a lowered fine and no points. They know that the US has right turn on red. The old DDR had it too, but the West did not until recently. This however is only where there are little green arrows. The are all ove the East, but very few here. If you get a letter in the mail, get someone to help you write it in German that you are very sorry and that you are just so use to it in the states. Be apologetic!!! and say that you will be more careful etc... Seriously, it works.

Of course, if you've been here for more than 6 months (I think!) then you should have a German license anyway.

They can (and will) take your US license away if it is valid here (i.e. within 6 months of your registering your residence here). They can also fine you too. You won't get any points on your US license, but they will appear on a German one if you ever do change over...

YL6

That's awesome. Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to be more careful next time I go to another country. Germany sure was beautiful though. Roads and signage put US to shame in many areas. German people were great!! Many thanks to all on board who replied to this post as well. Would very much LOVE to come back to Germany again. Great country!!!

So you don't actually live here? I don't think we realised that. When did you jump the red light, and who was the cars owner? They will get the ticket, and may have to suffer the consequences.

YL6

No, I live in the states. I was in Germany on vacation. I wanted to visit there because I'm mostly German myself. I had an awesome time (except for the red light (smile)) and I thought the country is the most beautiful I've ever seen. I was actually in a rental car. The rental car company contacted me and told me that they were going to charge me 11.5 Euro for processing the request and telling the police who I was. I haven't got the ticket in the mail yet but, the rental car agency said it will be coming in the near future. Thank all of you there for making my trip so special. I would love to come back soon.

If you plan on coming back, then I suggest you pay the fine.

Pretty sure I got 'lasered' doing about 140 in a 70 when in a hire car, but I never heard anything of it...at least not yet.

i got done last month on the autobahn.
158kms in a 120 zone - 100 euros and 3 points.
could have been worse i thought.

You might be lucky and never hear anything of it again. Just recently the Germans have got more agressive on chasing this sort of thing. In theory at least the rental company takes the rap (if there is one to take!) if the police can't reach you, which they would probably like to avoid. Some police authorities have been "selling" the fine onto debt collection companies to chase the money - this certainly happens now in a number of European countries... If you are identified to the police and they are not able to track you down you might find problems next time you turn up on a German border. In this case you won't lose your license or earn points, but you will have a fine to pay... It all depends on your honesty of course...

YL6

Interesting points here. My brother got done for speeding in the US back in the 90's (Nevada I think). He just left and did not pay the fine. Got loads of letter through in the mail threatening arrest etc. for not paying. He just stayed clear for a few years and the records were wiped. Same principal probably applies here too.

Yeah, I don't see immigration stopping you for a speeding fine, although post 9-11 anything is possible these days when it comes to immigration.

I would worry more about being put on a do-not-rent-to list the next time you wanted to rent a car in Germany or any where else in the world by that particular company. Also, if a collection company does get a hold of it and you don't pay, then your credit rating will get a nice line or two added. Plead your case, pay a small fine and be done with it.

Oh really. And how will they identify him, pray tell? By banning all John Smiths (or whatever his name is) worldwide?

Erm no, it's much easier than that actually... by banning his passport number, or whatever piece of id he used to reserve the car.

Date of birth and driving license number should be enough.

YL6

Thank you all for your replies. I definitely want to be honest about this. I very much enjoyed Germany and all the people there as well. Fantastic people and an outstanding country!! I will definitely know better next time (smile).

I got blitzed outside of City limits. Any idea how much I can expect to pay and how many points I can get? I'm not sure by how much I was over speeding.

Topics merged by admin

What was the speed limit and at what speed were you driving?

I think I was doing close to 80 in a 60 Zone.

Then it shouldn't be too bad. Up to 20km over a speed limit means you get a fine but no points.

They also give you a tolerance of 3kph, so if they clocked you at 80, they will give you the penalty for 77kph.
MT

That's a bit of a relief. Don't mind the money as much as the points.

Thanks.

As an addition to this - I was driving last week on the Autobahn through a city, Saarbrucken or Karlsruhe I forget which and was flashed by a fixed camera.
Whats the liklihood of this coming back to me given that I was in a car with British plates on ?

I got flashed the other week in Cottbus, early Apr or late March, forget which, not had anything come through back home...daft thing is, i knew it was there from last year but forgot (i was just on my way to visit a girl, having just left from another girl in Poland) i was just over...last year i was well over when got flashed, middle of the night and a bright fucking flash in my eyes...never heard from that, 8 months on.
Engleeeeeesh car.

Practically none. For minor offences they don't chase a UK perpetrator, as the costs outweigh the return. Your registration will, however be noted in the police database and will show up if you are ever stopped in the future driving the same vehicle. For plates from other countries (such as Switzerland and Austria) they DO chase as they have automated access to the registration databases of these countries. In the longer term that will also happen with UK vehicles and other European countries.

And it might be of interest to know that if you do not receive a ticket within 3 months then you're not obliged to pay.

I was stupidly driving 160 in what I thought to be a no limit area (was actually a 100) Northbound on the A2 between Dormund and Bielefeld and saw a small flash from the bridge, could this have been a speed camera? There was a bloke up there on his own in luminous orange (no equipment or anything), could he have been taking pictures (a road surveyor or something)or could it have been a speed camera above the autobahn? The flash wasn't directly above the road but up to the right on the bridge, well to the side of the autobahn

Also, I didn't think speed cameras in Germany used conventional white light flashes anymore, I thought they were orange or infrared...is this true?

I haven´t seen white light flashes for years. Besides they don´t flash from bridges because ist would be difficult or even impossible to identify your face on the picture so there should be no reason to worry.

That is reassuring...

Just one other thing, have you ever encountered speed cameras on an autobahn on the right hand side?

Surely most offenders would be in the left hand lane, so it would make more sense to put the camera on the central reservation?

YES

Like when on a perfectly good Autobahn (A7) without roadworks or anything suddenly "60 km/h" signs appear and everyone gets blitzed in order to bolster that federal state's funds...

I saw them doing that on the A42 where it is limited to 80 km/h near Mühlheim. On the A44 they even use one camera for each lane of the autobahn (near Düsseldorf Messe).