The “good old TomTom” is presumably relying on mapping data just like google maps, so is never going to be up-to-date on the roadworks (is that what you mean by “building site”?) which is where the vast majority of the confusing/changing limits occur. So in the places where you really need it it’s not there.
They are pretty good.
They don’t just rely on the camera but on GPS data too and a bit of fuzzy logic.
I think they err on the side of caution too.
Ours shows 40Km/h in a village I pass through sometimes and I know the speed limit is 50Km/h.
The speed limit used to be 40Km/h but was increased to 50Km/h about a decade ago.
It maybe that the 50Km/h sign is not clear to the camera - I ought to check.
But otherwise, pretty impressive.
A good reminder that these two excellent apps are technically illegal in Switzerland:
And you should definitely avoid using them, even though they work really well in Switzerland and can save you hundreds of franks a year according to some sources.
The blitzer one is also available in English as CamSam. Just as illegal, of course.
How much is the fine for being caught using one?
Article 98a in the federal law of road traffic (741.01) says there’s fine for using devices to avoid road traffic controls.
However, the law that specifies the fines (314.11), says nothing. Also looked in French and could not find anything about devices to avoid road traffic controls. So, how much is the fine?
And how great is the chance of being caught?
If people could save hundreds of franks (sic) per year by having one, surely that would outweigh the cost of a fine?
The fine depends on the canton, expect something in the order of 5-600. Plus the same again in fees, making a very low 4-digit total. Plus the device gets confiscated and destroyed, even if it’s an app.
However the risk of getting caught seems very low, unless you have a specialised device installe in the car or get caught using it. Because searching your phone (unless you agree to the search) requires a warrant. Canton Aargau (700k residents) for instance reports only 5-6 confiscations per year.
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That’s quite a high fine for a crime which doesn’t affect anyone else in anyway such as an injury or distress nor does damage to property either.
I’m not condoning their use and have not felt the need to have one but just commenting on the severity of the fine.
Thanks.
After rereading art 98a in the traffic law I saw the word “pécuniaire” in French. In case of grave infractions, there’s fine based on income. That’s the one that hurts haha
No details are provided in the articles beyond “using the app during police control”. So, we have to use our imagination…having the app open, with the phone on one of those mounts for the air vents or a suction cup on the windshield.
That just doesn’t make it any less dangerous. Coming from you, who keeps lecturing everybody and their dog about the dangers of traffic at every fitting and unfitting occasion, that’s a rather interesting take.
With that said, the police won’t care about the average driver who might accrue just few standard fines in years. Those drivers won’t bother installing a warner in the first place.
My guess is that the target is drivers who regularly go much above the limit, in speed ranges that might result in prison sentences. The evaded consequence is much more severe than a small fine, so the sanction for the warner needs to be adjusted upwards in order to act as deterrent.
I’m only concerned about dangerous driving, not by traffic in general. What a strange thing you’ve written.
Looks like another person is triggered by my comments.
Knowing where a speed camera is, is not dangerous in itself.
What is (obviously) dangerous is that the people who use these devices probably normally drive excessively fast, except when they get a camera notification.
This is the danger.
However, playing devil’s advocate - because they can, doesn’t mean they will.
Effectively, someone is being fined for a crime they haven’t yet committed - excessive speeding.
I don’t have a need of one of these devices and am quite happy there’s a high fine.
Doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to discuss them though, does it?
Well it does hurt the budgets of the cantons, which clearly shows priorities…
This is like parking in the blue zone, having a permit, and just forgetting to leave it on the dashboard. As they need an excuse to fine you, they fine you for not displaying the permit, the same amount of a fine for parking with no permit at all.
They just need to issue fines to pad the budgets and then let us fight amongst ourselves with sanctimonious BS like “if you don’t break the rules you won’t pay anything”
Not sure whether you understand I was talking about fines for carrying a radar detector and not for actual speeding.
Better to spout sanctimonious BS than to whine like a spoilt child because you got told off by the Police.
Try not to be such a cry baby - you are embarrassing yourself.
Well, the Swiss seem quite upfront that these are revenue-raising activities. At least this is honest.
In the UK, they bend over backwards to make it appear about safety.
Some Police forces/Councils have got into trouble in the UK as it has been shown that their placings of speed cameras has not been in the interest of road safety but of solely revenue collection.
In the UK they are supposed to be placed at accident black spots to reduce further accidents, or in places where accidents are more likely to occur - such as outside schools.
So yes, in the UK it is supposed to be about road safety.
Characterising behaviours is not necessarily crying about anything. I don’t care about what they do with the cameras. I’ve been here long enough, and have satisfactory situational awareness, and actually don’t speed all that much, so I’m maybe paying a couple of fines a year.
You seem to be quite passionate about the subject however, always turning to personal attacks to people. I sincerely hope that you (or someone close to you) has not been affected by an accident or bad driving to justify such passion in the matter.
I would also appreciate if you refrain from persona characterisations directed to me. If anything they same more about you than about me 
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But it’s OK to use the term sanctimonious BS, obviously about me.
I would also appreciate if you refrain from persona characterisations directed to me.
As for personal attacks - I give as good as I get but at least I don’t get off on driving aggressively and threatening cyclists and other motorists as other forum users have said they did, and then pretended they didn’t say it.
Yesterday, two cyclists (one a teenage girl), in two separate incidents, were severely injured when they fell of their bikes when being passed by cars after (according to the Police) being frightened.
As no impact between the cars and the cyclists occurred, the Police decided that there was no fault on the part of the drivers and it was purely the cyclists’ fault.
There is no close-pass law in Switzerland so a driver can go as fast, and as close as he likes to a cyclist.
Yes, I care about the disregard for safe roads and driving in this country - same as you, and others, are passionate about your “driving skills.”
That’s the point.
As for the rest … chill.
You know what they say about assuming, you’re just making an ass of you and me. Sanctimonious comments have been a staple of EF, in both its iterations, at least for the 12+ years I’ve been a member. And it has always been to my personal annoyance, because anyone can have the moral advantage on anything as none is infallible so it just leads to annoying and endless circles of finger pointing and non-constructive comments that only serve egos.
I was honestly not directing to you specifically; if you feel you’re being attacked, maybe it’s the heat of all discussion in the past couple of days.
For the rest I honestly don’t give a crap. It’s always difficult for cyclists, because of the nature of the vehicle. Same way it’s always difficult for motorcycles, who are also equally vulnerable and they have to deal with something that is 10x heavier than a bicycle. There is also a lot of responsibility to car drivers, because they’re operating heavy machinery, at close proximity of each other, so they need to get their shit together, and unfortunately many don’t. It is ALWAYS going to be a shitshow, everyone is going to complain, because both cyclists and motorists are equally bad at what they’re doing, and because human nature is shit - as evident in most posts in this place where people prefer to talk shit to each other rather than fucking focusing on the problems at hand.
If you’re a driver, obviously take some fucking care - people’s lives depend on it.
If you’re a cyclist, obviously don’t count on others taking care of you, because the stakes are too fucking high. Also, if you’re easily frightened, maybe don’t take a bicycle on open traffic. Stick to dedicated paths, or maybe walk the bike on the sidewalk when you can’t. Not saying that the unfortunate people that got injured were at fault, but again having grown up with a different mentality, I always look at the crossroad even with a green light.
Sorry I said fucking too much.
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