speed camera and vignette

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
Hi,

so accidentally I got on the Autobahn without a vignette (my bad, I know).

I wasn't caught by the police (which, as I have read would have resulted in 200 CHF fine + price of vignette), but I was flashed on a (speed) camera.

The camera was before a tunnel just before entering Luzern, the speed limit there was 80 (which, I assume was what the camera was there for) and I did notice an unmistakable flash.

I was not speeding.

So I have a few questions, as to what I can expect:

- are these cameras used for checking the missing vignette, or just for speeding?

- how exactly do these cameras work? do they take a picture of everybody, or a random (e.g.) every 4th vehicle, or just the ones they think has broken some traffic rule? I.e. does the flash necessarily imply I was caught?

- if I have indeed been caught, what's the probability that the fee will be mailed to me abroad? is this a human decision, or automated?

- if it is mailed, should I expect the fee as if caught by the police? (200 + 40 CHF?)

Do you have any experience/thoughts on this? The worst part about this, is that unlike with getting caught by the police, I don't know what to expect :-/

2
Is your car registered here in switzerland?

Because I have been caught several times with my car but it was not registered yet, as it was during my first year here, I never received any fine.

3
There are random photos taken checking for such items as your missing Vignette and seat belts that are not worn. Speeding or not, if your photo was taken, and your vehicle is traceable (Swiss tags)... then you may look for a letter in the mailbox soon.

JC

PS I don't buy that you got on the Autobahn "accidentally"

4
i dont know how the cameras work, but they dont check for a vignette only for speeding. i know it from practise

5
You may have been busted for speeding. But you surely don't know anything about the capabilities of the cameras on the roads in Switzerland.

JC

6
I've also been flashed in Zurich today, and I was well below the speed limit, not even near a traffic light... let's wait for some bad news in the mail.

7
This isn't necessarily true - we got a ticket sent to us in Germany which was then forwarded to us here in Switzerland before we got our plates switched to local ones.

8
I think it is because Germany and Switzerland have probably agreed to share drivers data - like France. I don't think it is the case with UK drivers. I was driving a UK car and got definitely caught on their camera.

9
I hope the Italians stay inefficient enough then, even if I still don't understand why they took a picture of my beautiful car...

10
Take a look at this

11
I'm just wondering - how do the Swiss speed cameras work? I'm thinking of the ones on the motorways in particular, I don't know if there are other types but I have seen similar looking ones to the Motorway ones in a residential area in Bern. Do they emit a radar as you drive up to them, then they take a picture of your rear if it works out you're there before a certain time?

12
Picture of front plate and usually the driver too.

13
The pictures themselves are not so extremely high rez tat they can make out the vignette year. If your car has an old vignette then you could probably do a cover up. If your shield is blank, then it will be harder. (all assuming they even look for the vignette in the pictures)

14
So it's a picture of the front only? I assume that it takes a picture beforehand and checks when you go past the camera?

15
Has anyone tried any of the sprays/films for the license plate that supposedly make your license plate reflect the camera flash?

16
No. Both pictures taken when you trigger the mechanism in front of the camera as you approach the camera.

If you ever see one go off (that's not you ), you'll note a double flash - blink and you'll miss it.

17
de,fr,ch share driver data.

UK does not unless a special request is made. eg you are flashed doing silly speeds in CH you may get a letter delivered by your local UK plod. This is however not enforceable unless the speeding ticket is then transfered into a debt then it may be enforced by a UK court under current legislation.

18
ps + 1 - wondering what "not speeding" is also.. unless the driver was right on 80.. technically, 81+ is speeding

19

They have special cameras on the autobahns (e.g. near Effretikon) to check if trucks have the correct vignettes; so far as I know they do not use these for checking autos.

20
This will change with the introduction of EUCARIS in mid-2013, no?