do NOT speed in switzerland

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AKA …anal retentive killjoys; Canada's proving to be one of the saner places to drive in.

Well as one racketeer said to the other "…you knew that party was bound to end sooner or later".

 

It's not only to collect fines. It's to flex muscle, set precedent, cloud clear lines of delineation, etc. -- you know, the usual statist-Leftist nonsense.

 

The thing that bugs me is that many of the speed limits are ridiculously low for the road conditions and traffic situation. Roads with 30 kph limits could easily be at 50 to 60 with absolutely no compromise in safety. To me these low limits are there expressly there to raise revenue, safety has nothing to do with it.

 

Switzerland is a wealthy country, and many inhabitants own super cars such as Ferraris.

My question: why bother to own such a car in a land with such draconian speed enforcement laws?

Sure, some owners track their cars, and some simply store them and admire them occasionally as artwork, but as for the rest of us: where is the "fun" in driving an exotic under such circumstances, with FEAR your constant companion?

Just goes to prove that people can adjust to pretty much anything.

 

It’s not as bad as it sounds. The law is very strict but we have lots of mountains with lots of nice roads where you can have fun (nearly) without speeding.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJScDbu7EO0]512 TR with external mic at rear bumper (middle) - YouTube[/ame]

 

Ross – Yes, I can image exactly how this happened to you. I also had similar situations but never got that fast (well, I don’t have a F40&#8230. I drive the route in the video every day when I drive to my office. I never drive faster than 100 kph (this would result in a fine, but it’s in a range that doesn’t hurt too much). You can see that in the video on the straights where I could have accelerated more but stopped accelerating due to too high speed. I love breaking into corners and coming out of corners and this can be done at rather low speed on the Swiss roads. On the straight roads I have to stop accelerating after going into 2nd gear.

Markus

 

PS: I am so sorry, this happened to you and I feel with you!
A good friend of mine told me a workmate was caught with 200 kph in a 80 zone. The fine was six figures and he had to put down his license for one or two years! Fortunately this was in 2011 or 2012 before the new law.

Markus

 

Fines, even for small violations, are going up all over Europe as governments struggle to collect more money. Last week an acquaintance of mine, who was visiting Italy for a week, drove into an Italian tunnel without his headlights on. Headlights are required by law at all times inside tunnels here in Italy. The Carabinieri busted him and also discovered that he was driving with a U.S. license but without the required International Drivers Permit (actually just a translation which is good only along with a valid license). It cost him 400 €........ OUCH!

 

Ok, Here I'm sure I wont drive on Swiss road EVER ..

 

I actually don't mind high fines for speeding (within reason); jail sentences is what perplexes me and the points system (ie you can get stopped four times for lets say 15km/h over the limit and you'll have collected enough points to lose your license for a year).



Obviously 20K for a speeding fine is also idiotic.

 

Just for the sake of visualizing, here are a couple of screen shots of Zurich's speed traps from Trapster. This is a GPS app I have on my iPads where users can report and confirm sightings of speed traps. It shows a huge number of reported fixed speed cameras as well as red light cameras in the downtown but far fewer reported along the shores of the lake, especially on the east side.

I don't know how up-to-date the sightings are but if you must drive around the area it wouldn't hurt to be forewarned. The app can also issue vocal alerts based on your GPS location. It may be illegal to have a radar/laser detector but I don't believe they can stop people from chatting and reporting locations.
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+1000 Nothing to add, thank you for this clear and true statement!

Because people have emotions and passions - also in switzerland!

And because switzerland is a very small country, probably I'm able to visit a race track in France, Germany, Austria or Italy easier and faster than someone who lives somewhere in the United States.

 

Don't want to go into politics, but...

Until now, they didn't really. But they will in the future...
And for sure, it was/is a business. There's nothing to deny. That's why they fear this whole action...

True.

That's an euphemism

 

Not to be argumentative, but can you offer actual proof of this claim?

 

The Italians design and build these beautiful cars and we Swiss people buy them. If Swiss people would not have passion there would be no Ferraris, Maseratis, Lambos, … in Switzerland but only Porsches, Audis, BMW, …

Markus

 

Wow.

However, speeding charges in and around Toronto (Ontario) are ridiculous as well.

After which, your insurance company will likely drop you upon renewal or double/triple your rates.

/rant.

 

why would he pay a ticket living in the USA? there is no reciprocity as far as speeding tickets? I get those from France. Italy seem better. Empty-hiways driving is comfortable at 170km/h there.
These research are done at great expense in France.They make sure I get them in the US. I drive as a US citizen with a US licence. For as little as a few mph over the speed they will mail the ticket abroad and tell you about how bad it is going to get if you dont pay up as wellas a dos**** if you do. F..them!. I hate all the administrative that have anything to do with automative there.They enjoy making everyone'slife miserable.

All of Europe but a handfull of countries,and especially Switzerland and France have become the automotive Taliban and they wonder why the sales are tanking.. Many cops there have the superior attitude they think they deserve to display.

the problem reside in the citizen of theescountires whojust take i tand dont take the politician accouontable for thatand take them out of the race at voting time.
Everyone I know,exotics or Clio style car, there is mad about it and they pay alot of money with grief as well but noone does anything about it.
These state are entering an out of control driving repression that has no end in sight..

 

that is totally incorrect. they will track you even with a rental car. I know 1st hand. France is very repressive and getting worst. Iam asure you are aware of the new program to install more cameras on hiways to cut death by50% (the number of endlessy doing better has become an obsession there). In addition you should be aware of the new tyle of camera that will average your speeds on specific distance and cameras that can monitor multiple cars at once (so dont try follow the car in front of you because you'll get nailed too. Such equipement must cost a fortune..

Irecall when Fracne was a great place todrive not that long ago..well up to the 80s-90s. What a waste.

 

France is still OK to me and most of the country is fantastic to drive in. I spend a lot of time there and don't see much in the way of police or cameras outside of the auto routes or a few specific northern A roads. Switzerland as discussed is totally different.

You want somewhere else bad these days, how about Australia. IN NSW there are cameras everywhere with crazy low limits. This is in a country with virtually no people outside a few of the the coastal areas. I got a ticket for 3 miles over the limit sent to me via Avis two months after I got back from working in NSW. Needless to say I am not going to pay it.

 

I wonder if foreign entities can employ US-based collection agencies? If the fine is high enough it would be worth it. Oh crap, I just gave them an idea...

 

For shame!!

A ticket for 3 mph over the limit is ludicrous in a country where so many high performance cars are allowed and most have analog gauges. The man always trying to keep a brother down.