ZephyrAMG

I am surprised to know that they even bother with tickets in Germany.

Almost every fast car comes out of there anyways...

Don't they have the autobauhn and no real speed limits? Last time I was in Germany was when I was 13 so I really don't remember...

danielemccabe

The only reason i'm thinking of paying it is because i got it in MY car and not a rental. I'm still pondering this one.

racetested

I would contact Mercedes where you did the delivery and see if they have any insight on foreigners getting tickets while visiting and taking delivery.

emericr

Do not pay for it. If they can find a way thru MB i.e. charge a credit card, they will. Costs to get you to pay greatly overway the benefits. I cannot believe how many people tell you to pay it, they must have cash burning in their pockets.
If this issue somehow would pop up in the future, you can always claim you never received anything in the mail.

danielemccabe

i was kind of thinking that. How would they know i ever got it? although i picture myself stuck at the airport in Europe with cuffs on......

jafores

My take, If you did break thier law I guess you should pay, for a I would rather have peace of mind for $150. I dont think this will be the last time you will do a euro delivery or visit Switzerland. Its just 3 weeks gas money or .2% of the cost of your car.

danielemccabe

good thought jafores. weird name though.

AlexCim

You only spend $50usd a week on fuel? I spend at least $150usd a week on fuel (two tanks).

To the OP. If you're going to pay it, keep holding off to pay it, the let the Euro **** itself more so you get a better exchange rate

exdes

just pay and get it over with.

danielemccabe

i've never seen the forum so back and forth. i think i'lll wait for the euro to crash with the greek economy.

Chappy

Here's a posting on a travel website that may provide some insight:

"I received notice of a speeding ticket almost 9 months after our visit to Switzerland (Sep 2007). It was written in German...so I just ignored it. About 3 months later I got another notice (this time in multiple languages) saying that I owed 80 Euros for speeding 92 km in an 80 km zone...it was a camera ticket. I ignored this one as well. Last month, they tried to get me to pick up a registered letter from the Swiss Embassy...I ignored it. I don't know what other's will do...but for me, I intend to ignore these requests. It may not sound like the "proper civic attitude" but I will risk sounding non PC and just resign myself to not traveling in Switzerland for the next few years (not too hard for me to do). Note that there are numerous instances here in the Bay area where people have demonstrated that the infallible speed camera tickets do not show the License plate number of the recipient's car. To me, this is the Euro equivalent of the "speed trap" and I intend to give it the same level of respect that I have for these obnoxious practices here in the US. I did not receive a copy of the "picture" and I don't have a record of the license plate of the car I was driving... "

emericr

Just to give you a bit of background, I am from Europe and I have had my share of tickets. If you think you would be caught at an airport for one speeding unpaid ticket in cuffs, someone is giving you wrong information.
If you are not going to be able to sleep at night, then pay it.
Otherwise, just forget about it and stick it in your memorabilia

Chappy

.....followed by:

"If you choose not to pay the ticket...DO NOT RETURN TO SWITZERLAND. When you check into a hotel (and sometimes cross the border) police records will list you as a "scofflaw" All hotel records are posted daily with the local comissariat. Then you will be subject to an embarrassing arrest and if you cannot pay...a short imprisonment.Also...like in the USA, these tickets can escalate as time passes. Just pay the bloody ticket and get on with you life...is this really worth all the fuss for $80-90. if you pay it, go to the swiss embassy and keep a record of your payments"

i_am_amused

by far the best advice... but too late!!!!

danielemccabe

well, hell, i don't want to be taken down by the scofflaw! i think i may just pay the damn thing.

Sathinas

There are spots and times on the Autobahn that don't have a speed limit.

Problem is, around major cities, the Autobahn suffers from the same thing US freeways suffer from... congestion. So, most Autobahns around bigg(er) cities will have a uniform speed limit imposed on all lanes.

emericr

Chappy: I don't know what kind of stuff you smoke but hotels do not have such a list and if they had, it would be hundreds of pages. Do you really think every person who checks into a hotel would have his name checked against some kind of list. That is absurd...
Even the US immigration who has unlimited resources cannot even get its computer to be working 90% of the time.
Again, do what will make you sleep at night and not have knightmares.

propain

Forget about it. There is nothing they can do. You will probably get a warrant or something over there. If you go there often then id pay it. If not...

SMP

All this for a few dollars??? Just think about it. You bought a car in Germany, had it registered and insured to drive though out Europe in your name. Where do you think they got your US home address from? If you ever consider like you said going back to Europe and picking up another car via Euro-delivery, what do you think is going to happen? Trust me, I am European and it's not worth the hassle down the road.

hgerhardt

It's already too late. The ticket was issued Feb 6, 2010 and you had 30 days to pay without late fees, and it's not clear what the late fees are. At this point, if you paid it, you'd still owe them for more. I wouldn't pay it.

danielemccabe

well, hgerhardt (uh what?) i just got the ticket about 2 days ago. there's no picture, there's no plate, i dont' even know what anything on the ticket says.

hgerhardt

Your license plate was BB-24QP10 (or something like that, your scan of the ticket is pretty poor). Your direction of travel was towards Basel, although I can't make out which Autobahn you were on. Your date of violation was Saturday, Feb 6, 2010 at 12:22PM. The date of the ticket is April 13. And it says you have 30 days to pay without incurring extra fees, so you had until May 13 to pay it. And, sorry, not knowing the language is not an excuse. Only we Americans would even consider that. Although, you could plead with the court that you didn't receive the ticket until (XX date), since it had to come all the way to "Amerika" and that you needed time to have it translated, since, heaven forbid, you don't speak German...

If you'd re-scan the ticket and repost it, I'll translate the whole thing. But it's so bad I can't read some of it.
Heinrich Gerhardt

amdeutsch

Ich glaube es sagt das er auf der A2 war.

AMGC60-3

Well,,, Alles klar

SMP

Richtig, amdeutsch. Du sprichst ausgezeichnet Deutsch, mein Freund! Er fuhr auf der A2 Richtung Basel. Seine Nummerntafel ist BB-24QP10 und er hat die Hochstgeschwindigkeit um 17 km/h uberschritten.