Big Bruder is watching!
*sigh* my second european speeding ticket (first was from Spain, 2008). i was rushing back to the Nena concert after returning to the hotel to get my umbrella and didn’t want to end up too far back in the crowd (even though this was still an hour or two before the concert started–and i really didn’t need to rush, but at the time i didn’t know).
i was expecting this. i saw the flash as i drove by, and even worse, i saw the camera on the side of the road earlier in the day when i drove to the brewery (where the concert was held) the first time. i remember even thinking that i should temper my excitement and be cognizant of my speed, but clearly my mind wandered and my lead foot took over. 60 km/h in a 50. (if i can read the pixely image correctly, i think the camera indicates 63 km/h, but in the letter they note a Toleranzabzug, or margin of error allowance, so i guess that’s -3 km/h.)
the ticket was just €15 (i think because it was 10 km/h or less over), but i had no means of paying it (for the spanish ticket i kept getting reminders every couple of months until they finally implemented online payment) — but twitter to the rescue! it pays to have twitter friends who have german bank accounts! <3 (oh, and in addition to this, sixt charged my credit card a little over €18 for an “administrative fee” — i guess handing over my name and address to the po-po is quite labor-intensive? : .)
@jonk do you need help with that?
— Canan (@_Canan__) October 9, 2012
and the best tweet/advice about this goes to:
RT @turhetts: @jonk that's why you should always smize or look fierce when you're driving! // omg yes
— Jonathan Khoo (@jonk) October 9, 2012
(and in case you’re wondering, i haven’t gotten a speeding ticket at home since 1995, my one and only.)
that is so cheap!
in the UK the minimum fine you can get is £60 ($96) from a camera which is £30 if you pay within 14 days. or £50 / £100 sometimes. Some of the ones also measure your speed (especially police held ones) and you can get penalty points if you are much higher than the limit!
My Uncle got a speeding ticket with a hire car in the UK. He has a UK driving license but lives in Africa. He registered the rental car to his name and my families address! So we got a legal ticket for getting snapped by a camera. However we gave his details and said he doesn’t live in the UK. The whole thing was dropped 🙂
I heard in America that there is few cameras unlike here, measuring speed or cctv in public spaces due to the bill of rights or something. Or there used to be few cameras. Its very interesting that now here they are seen negatively. cameras in public don’t seem to catch crimes, cameras measuring road crime are just ways of making money. There is now a trend to remove them and some towns have taken them away completely! I think they may have a resurgence because councils need to make money and have had income from govt frozen at 2010 levels, so anything that generates easy money! interestingly in scientific research both cctv and speed cameras don’t do what they are supposed to. they don’t reduce crime and don’t make roads safer! in fact everyone slams on the brakes when they see them :/
ack yeah, i’m actually glad the fine was so low. i think ours are normally priced similar to yours, with the same penalty points thing. i have to be careful around home because there are a whole bunch of red light cameras around :. but lucky for your uncle! clearly these rental car companies hunt you down!