French Traffic Camera Ticket

[AManWithPlan]

Dear Linus Community,

 

I have recently received a fine in the mail (all completely in French) for something over $100 Euros. The fine lists that it must be paid by 6/13 and it was received on 7/31, so just a little beyond that possible date haha.

 

Here's my conundrum. They received my information from the rental company, which by US law the company cannot share without court order. Now I know what you are thinking, "well AManWithPlan by French law they can, you have to obey the laws of where you are." I'm very glad you brought that up, because by US law, all contracts/fines/fees, absolutely anything 'legaleese', must be written in English, which invalidates the fine from at the very least being automatically charged to my card or in any reasonable manner collected by a company here. Not to mention that traffic cameras are now illegal in NJ.

 

Now to point two, there is no proof I was operating the vehicle at the time. The camera picked up the license plate, and that's it. In France, all traffic violations apply to the driver, not the vehicle registration.

 

My question is, anyone have experience with foreign tickets, and can I scoff at them as easily as I am currently doing?

 

Amanwithplan

[spartaman64]

well when you go to france you need to follow french law just pay the fee and im pretty sure they will be reasonable about you not receiving it in time

[AManWithPlan]

well when you go to france you need to follow french law just pay the fee and im pretty sure they will be reasonable about you not receiving it in time

 

And when they send me tickets in the US, they need to follow US law.

[Minzo]

Eh, what are they gonna do? Come and get you?

[spartaman64]

And when they send me tickets in the US, they need to follow US law.

i have no idea anyone here have a law degree?

[ShadowCaptain]

Its hard for a foreign country to persue a ticket when somebody leaves the country, so its certain you can ignore it - however, if you visit the country at a late date its possibly it will flag up

 

Was it a hire car? if so the charge can be passed onto the hire company and they might persue you for payment

 

 

Maybe just go for the simplest option - admitting fault and paying the ticket then all your worries are gone

 

 

 which by US law the company cannot share without court order. 

 

Its possible if you dont pay, the rental company will just take the money off your credit card, its probably a clause in your paperwork that you signed

[Horrorfull]

Eh, what are they gonna do? Come and get you?

They still charged him on the card however.

 

Read it wrong. Just ignore the ticket.

[Real_PhillBert]

Do you ever want to go back to france?

 

If yes -> Pay the fine and be done with it

 

If no -> ignore it

[spartaman64]

Its hard for a foreign country to persue a ticket when somebody leaves the country, so its certain you can ignore it - however, if you visit the country at a late date its possibly it will flag up

 

Was it a hire car? if so the charge can be passed onto the hire company and they might persue you for payment

 

 

Maybe just go for the simplest option - admitting fault and paying the ticket then all your worries are gone

yep probably the best course of action is just paying the ticket 100 euros is nothing compared to the 375 dollar minimum traffic fine from where i live

[GlassBomb]

And when they send me tickets in the US, they need to follow US law.

 

First off, if the fine isn't paid for already. Then do it ASAP. Second, if you really do feel that you should not have to pay this fine, then take it up with a lawyer. They will know a lot more about this than any of us here.

 

What do I think? You should just take the hit and leave it be.

[Leonard]

@AManWithPlan, don't listen to these whimps and wusses......to hell with the French law or any other for that matter.....Leave earth....that'll show um!

 

Seriously though if you are like me you would contest this mess on your own rather than pay a lawyer, which would probably be way more than the cost of the fine and if you lose you just have the 100euros to pay and you could mumble something like thanks alot frenchies! :angry:

[ShadowCaptain]

yep probably the best course of action is just paying the ticket 100 euros is nothing compared to the 375 dollar minimum traffic fine from where i live

 

wow thats freaking crazy

[ZetZet]

Its hard for a foreign country to persue a ticket when somebody leaves the country, so its certain you can ignore it - however, if you visit the country at a late date its possibly it will flag up

for EU countries however every single ticket will come through quite easily and you will have to pay them.  :lol:

[AManWithPlan]

Was it a hire car? if so the charge can be passed onto the hire company and they might persue you for payment

 

This was the only morality-clause I researched for. I don't want a rental company to pay my tickets and end up hiking up rental prices for everyone, or cause foreign rental companies not to want to rent to us. Thankfully, this is not the case because French law charges fines to drivers, not vehicles. Thus the person driving the vehicle at the time is the only party responsible for any traffic violations.

 

Any "automatic" charge I get on my credit card I will immediately claim fraudulent with my credit card company as there is no signature of mine to authorize this charge, and I do not authorize this charge.

 

I have no internal qualms with not paying state traffic fines. These are money making schemes and I will have no part in them.

[spartaman64]

This was the only morality-clause I researched for. I don't want a rental company to pay my tickets and end up hiking up rental prices for everyone, or cause foreign rental companies not to want to rent to us. Thankfully, this is not the case because French law charges fines to drivers, not vehicles. Thus the person driving the vehicle at the time is the only party responsible for any traffic violations.

 

Any "automatic" charge I get on my credit card I will immediately claim fraudulent with my credit card company as there is no signature of mine to authorize this charge, and I do not authorize this charge.

 

I have no internal qualms with not paying state traffic fines. These are money making schemes and I will have no part in them.

well i dont see them pursuing you too hard if you decide not to pay the ticket because it will probably cost them more than 100 euros but just dont go back to france if you really want to avoid paying

[spartaman64]

if i ever visit europe ill be fined so many times for driving on the wrong side of the road

[AManWithPlan]

wow thats freaking crazy

 

The way the EU ticket system works is the original fine isn't a fine at all, but a courtesy payment which stops the fine. It is an at-will acknowledgement that you did something bad and want to pay $100 euros to make the problem go away. If not paid within a year, you get the real fine which is $300-$400 euros that the state is very interested in persuing.

 

I have been reading more and more about this, the statute of limitations is 5 years. So if I don't want to go back to France for 5 years (which I don't), it will self-resolve. I may have to deal with some collections agencies calling me in the mean time, but that's fine, I don't answer my cell to unknown callers or check voice mails.

 

Also, there is no connection with my fine and customs (at this time), so I cannot be stopped on the border and required to pay. The worst case scenario is if I am back in Paris and get pulled over it will be in their system and I can have a problem. But this a minor chance, not worth the $100 euro to pay at all to avoid.

[GlassBomb]

Also, Linus got a speeding ticket a while back when visiting Germany.

 

https://instagram.com/p/ygZR7HybED/

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

Dont put the dollar sign when you write "$100 Euro"

 

Just say 100 Euro or use the euro sign € (alt + 0128)

[AManWithPlan]

Dont put the dollar sign when you write "$100 Euro"

 

Just say 100 Euro or use the euro sign € (alt + 0128)

 

Force of habit, no need to hang a brother cold. Ha

[Minzo]

if i ever visit europe ill be fined so many times for driving on the wrong side of the road

 

Uh, isn't most european contries right hand side driving?

[ShadowCaptain]

Force of habit, no need to hang a brother cold. Ha

 

haha i didnt mean to come across so dickheadish 

[AManWithPlan]

I have decided to ignore the ticket until a proper one is sent. The initial ticket was a voluntary expunge opportunity, which means the courts are not yet formally involved. If they do become involved and the next level is reached, I will contest the ticket by asking for photo identification (which they cannot possible have). This will then likely be dismissed.