Naughty Naughty – I Got A Speeding Ticket

I’ve been bad.  I should have known that as soon as I posted about driving over here, something would happen.  I went 9 km an hour over the speed limit and got a ticket mailed from the French government.  In my defense, I was going 119.  I thought the limit was 120 km/hr; it was 110.  Oops.  We have noticed that in France the speed limit inexplicably drops with little warning.  Lesson learned.

On the bright side, we didn’t get a ticket in Switzerland.*  Here, tickets are based on a percentage of your income.  Depending on your speed, this can get expensive.  Notable whoppers include:

• 1 million dollars (1.08 million Swiss Francs) for a Swedish man who went 180 mph in a Mercedes SLS AMG (it was impounded).
• $290,000 for 85 mph in a 50 mph zone in a Ferrari Testarossa, which ironically, cost less than the fine.  He claimed his diplomatic plates had fallen off the car.
• $110,000 with the speed unknown to a Porche (2008 in Zurich).

By the way, were you wondering how I got a ticket in the mail.  On the highways here, there are radar detectors and cameras.  The police mail you the ticket in the mail.  I am told that if you fight it and/or ask for the photo, the fine increases.

*I get to pay my fine in Euros, not Swiss Francs.   I had to go to the newstand, buy this nice little stamp, put it on the ticket and mail it in.  I mailed it from a French post office because it would have cost me 40 CHF ($45) to mail it from Switzerland!