In a country where personal responsibility, obeying the rules and money are all taken very seriously, fines are inevitable. We have heard that you need to budget 1000-2000 CHF a year for fines. Thankfully, we’ve only had one ticket thus far.
Here, a diverse array of behaviors are punishable by fine. Here are some interesting Swiss fines:
- Highest speeding ticket in Switzerland (tickets are on a percentage of income)
- Naked hiking (instead of banning it, they just decided to fine naked hikers…uber Swiss)
- Entering a private drive
- Putting your recyclables in the bins on a Sunday or holiday
- Leaving tire marks on the floor of a parking garage
- Merely entering the first class train car with a second class ticket
- Taking bribes if you are a FIFA official
- Pointing your laser at a helicopter (I am not making this up)
- Not picking up after your dog (Unfortunately, this does not seem to be strictly enforced; we don’t see many policemen on the streets.)
- Driving on a Swiss highway without a sticker on your car (that you buy from the Swiss government at the border)
- Violating Bank Secrecy
- Refusing to let your daughters attend swimming classes at school
- Being a soccer hooligan
- Having a political slogan (Tourism Equals Jobs) on a professional soccer team jersey
- Claiming Anne Frank’s diary was a fake
A friend of ours was unlucky enough to get her car towed. Five hours = 250 CHF or $275. Ouch.
Related articles
- Geneva’s Rising Crime Rate (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
- Fancy A Turbosieste? Powernap National Day in Switzerland (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
- Why CH? (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
- Swiss Immigrants (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
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