Speeding ticket in France
 

I think I got caught by one of those speed cameras for going 10 or 20 kmh
over the speed limit on the highway. I saw the flash so I figure they got me for going too fast around a curve.
Will it just get billed to my credit card?
How much can I expect the ticket to be?

My 141 on 90 was definitely over €1,000, maybe €1,200. There were construction signs, but it was 3 in the morning and it was completely barren. Then comes the flash!

And the car was registered in Germany - didn't make a difference.

I found the website... maybe that'll be use of you.

http://english.controleradar.org/speeding-fines.php

It seems the fine's higher for me if I did it today.

Hertz will provide your details to the french police as well as charging you an admin fee. Hertz are required by law to provide driver details for traffic offences in Europe, it is then between you and the police.

Hope this helps.

What happens if you just change your credit cards and not go to France for ten years?

If you report your CC lost shortly after you return the car, then if you are from the US they will not be able to collect the fine.

The ethics of doing so is another matter.

I had a similar case with UK London Congestion charge - where I pulled over to get out of the way of a fire truck. As I was being fined for a good deed, I had no ethical concerns about using this approach (I actually had lost the card - which is how I discovered that this apoproach to avoiding the fine works).

Cancelling your credit card will make it harder for Hertz to collect the cash, but it won't make the debt go away.

I'm also wondering how pulling over for a fire truck caused you to be liable for the charge. Were you forced into a side street or something?

(Way OT, but about a week after I passed my driving test, I was driving through some narrow (i.e. single lane, coned-off) roadworks on the lovely North Cicular. A police car appeared behind me, clearly on an emergency call. To allow him past, I sped up to about double the speed limit and hurled myself onto the hard shoulder as soon as we got through the roadworks. I got a small wave of thanks from him as he went past, but I suspect there would have been a lot of explaining to do if I'd made that judgement call wrong.)

Would you end up being liable to Hertz for the fine or to the traffic authorities in France?

yes. and you probably have to explain yourself not only when you re-enter France but anywhere in Schengen because that's exactly what Schengen is for. otoh, I wouldn't think they'd go all the way for 90€, thats what <20km/h would cost you.

Go ahead
 

Nothing unethical about avoiding fines for speeding. Government use this method to squeeze citizens (or visitors) for more money. If you can get away without paying, do so with a clear conscience.

Don't tell them I told you do that.

I was recently caught by those cameras thrice in the same night (yeah, I didn't learn!) on my way to Nice from Perpignan. I was in a Europcar rental and about 10 days later, my credit card was charged 25 Euro (around $37) thrice.

Called Europcar to check and it was indeed my speeding fines. Ended up paying them.

Congratulations, Thats just the fee Hertz charges for giving your name and adress to the police. In a while you will probably get a nice letter from the police asking you to pay a fine.

Ok, to get down to the point. In europe there are two varieties. In some countries the driver is responsible, and in others the car owner is responsible. If its the owner, hertz will charge you for the fine plus 25-30 Euro and not even tell you. If its the other variety hertz will charge you the 25-30 Euro to give the police your name, but the ticket is between you and the issuing state. If this is the case, you can easily forget about it. However, if you are very unlucky and fly into a french airport and have an unpaid french ticket they could indeed find you in their system some time down the road, ad push you to pay the fine. However this is not very lightly. I have a couple of unpaid tickets from Switzerland and Italy, and after a while thy get tired of sending you letters.

Hovewer, in the future be careful in europe. I just go to a ticket in norway 114 Km in a 90 km zone on the freeway and it cost 4900 Kroners or about 900USD. The further north the higher the fines.

I also got 3 tickets in one night, d'oh. At least one was 50km over. This might be enough to trigger some airport issues.