Speeding In Switzerland. They Will Get You And You Will Pay!

by Zurich Expats on November 23, 2010

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Speeding In Switzerland. They Will Get You And You Will Pay!

One thing that may surprise you is the voracity of the Swiss Police in catching and punishing drivers who break the law.This is an excerpt of a letter that landed on our doormat yesterday-Briefly translated, the car was traveling at 54 km/h in an area with a limit of 50 km/h. After a rounding down factor of 3 km/h for laser speed traps, the offence was speeding by 1 km/h over the speed limit.This was at 02:08 in the morning. This is merely to point out that speed cases in Switzerland are generally black and white. If you were speeding and you get caught, you are going to be fined with no exception. Always observe speed limits. The fines are expensive, can be cumulative and breaking the limit by larger amounts lead to larger fines and

even

criminal action. Although punitive sentences are rare, they can often be levied but removed upon payment of an even heftier sum. his page shows the rough guidelines for speeding offences and penalties in Switzerland as well as the rounding down applied for different types of speed trap. It is in German but easy enough to follow. Here is the page in English. Just be careful and be especially aware of drops in the speed limit on motorways. If a particularly tricky bend is coming up, the limit will be reduced and this reduction will likely be coupled with a speed trap. If you are not a Swiss resident you will also be pursued for payment, especially if you are from Europe. If you are driving a rental car when you are caught speeding in Switzerland, there is really no way of avoiding payment asthe Swiss will charge the rental company who will then bill you for the fines as well as an admin fee. The first you will know is a charge on your credit card or a bill in the post from the rental company. If you are driving your own car when caught speeding, the Swiss authorities will contact your local Driving authority for your postal address and write to you directly. You can choose to ignore it but this is not wise. This will make you a criminal in Switzerland which is fine if you can guarantee you will never return but if you do come back to Switzerland, you will run into a lot of trouble if you were stopped by the police for any reason. If you have any experiences with speeding offences in Switzerland, please join in with a comment.


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