Speeding tickets in Germany

9/7/2016 6:34:06 AM

I am German and I have been living in Austria and got a speeding ticket with a rental car when visiting my hometown.
What happened was that the car rental company charged me 20€ to give away my details such as in your case.
After a few weeks without hearing anything I contacted the rental company again asking for the proof for passing on the details and it seemed like they never did and came up with some problem in communication and so on.

As far as I know in Germany things like this get stored really long and you may want to follow up with your rental company to get the details they forwarded and to who. This will also be proof in a later case if an official will get back to you asking for why you didn´t respond or anything.

So I would do this and check for some sort of documents before feeling safe.

9/7/2016 3:42:03 PM

As long as the rental agency had your real address and you are reachable there you don’t need to worry. If a ticket is issued (which is not certain based on your description – they might decide it’s not worth it) it will be send to that address.

For most traffic violations (not all!) the relevant authority need to ensure a letter from them has reached you within three months of the violation. If that doesn’t happen it can’t be enforced. This is by § 26 Abs. 3 StVG and § 33 Abs. 1 S. 1 Nr. 9 OWiG. If there were special circumstances this could be extended for up to two years (§ 33 Abs. 3 S. 2 OWiG). Note that for severe violations including driving under influence and crimes longer deadlines apply.

Only in very exceptional circumstances (they can’t find a place where they can contact you even after trying) a ticket can be validly issued without you knowing. In that case they will try to collect the fine next time they can (e.g. at the border).

9/7/2016 9:53:58 AM

I had two from France recently. The French did follow up (a week or so after the car rental company’ notifications) but there is a good chance Germany won’t bother for a US citizen. If they don’t you are not risking anything since the car rental company’s fees are not official notification of your offences, merely that they were asked to provide details that cost them some administrative effort you had agreed to accept being passed on.

Maybe I should emphasise that, had you received notification of your offence from an authorised body and had chosen to ignore it or merely overlooked it then there might well be consequences, at least if returning to or attempting to return to Germany, or possibly in attempting to visit another EU nation. However since you have not received notification after a more than reasonable interval you are “home and dry” and should not expect any further consequences from that offence.

So:

what happens if I don’t pay them?

Nothing.

What leverage can the ticketing agency apply to get me to pay them?

For a start, send you a bill – why they have not.

Would that prevent me from renting a car?

No.

anywhere or just in Germany?

Nowhere nor Germany.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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