406dude

Hi All,

just received notice that I've been caught doing 80km/h in a 60km/h zone whilst driving a hire car in Dubin on 4th Oct. Never been caught before, and I know it's stupid, but what is likely to happen here? 80 Euro fine which of course I'll pay, but can my UK licence (I'm British) be endorsed with the 2 points they are teling me?

Excuse my ignorance, but in 15 years of driving in England I've never been caught and I have no idea how the system works.

Many thanks in advance,

Tim

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

No

Not under current legislation but I guess if you were to apply for an Irish driving licence then those points would appear for the time they are there for.

bpm1588

i live in n.ireland myself and drive down south a lot.up untill a few months ago they had to catch you in the act,so to speak and fine you.they could'nt issue a non resident with points,their own points system has only started in the past few years anyway.
but i believe the law has changed and northern irish drivers can get points from offences in the south now.as we're part of the united kingdom i guess it would be the same for you as well.most likely a eu brussels europe wide law.

fatherpierre

Different country - different system.

They can't touch your UK licence and can only enforce the fine if you live in Eire.

I'd only pay if I drove in Eire a lot.

406dude

So they can't touch me for the fine? Interesting - I feel that I ought to pay it, but if it's non-enforceable then I don't see the point.

bpm1588

would be worth looking into,im no expert but i do know the law has changed in the past few months.maybe its just for northern irish drivers im not trying to be the bearer of grim news but i hold a full uk driving licence the very same as the one you hold,can't see why they can enforce points on me and not another person who lives in the united kingdom with the same licence.

fatherpierre

The law in Eire is different to that in the UK.

Only a UK court can enforce UK laws, and only Irish law can be enforced in Irish courts.

You have broken the law (allegedly in Eire) so only an Irish court can enforce/punish you.

If guilt is relly hurting, then send me the cash! I'll spend it better than any government.

LegacySTi

iTrader: (13)

you won't get points as different country..

regards paying fine wat usually happens is they send 2-3 reminders and thats end that..

bpm1588

just did some googling......im full of sh**e! must be an urban legend that they can issue you with points.just read this ireland.com - The Irish Times - Wed, Aug 29, 2007 - Call for 'foreign' loophole to close

maybe would'nt be a bad idea to pay the fine,but apart from that rest easy!

fatherpierre

Don't even bother paying the fine.

It's written off as soon as they see where you live but issued as a 'hope' anyway.

Non-enforcable so don't pay.

LegacySTi

iTrader: (13)

agree with above...

issed in hope..

might get couple reminders..

ignore all...

fatherpierre

They're hardly going to apply for an extradition licence for a speeding offence, are they.

If you murdered someone in Eire, then yes they would. For a bit of speeding it's binned. The letters you'll get are system generated. Bin 'em.

Even if you commit a serious offence in the Uk it usually only has a 5-7 year 'life' before it's wiped.

r32

Pay it and be thankful you wont get any points .......

^Qwerty^

Kiss of death that one.....

OllyK

I believe they can sell the debt on to an agency in the UK for recover of the fine however, red ken was looking to do this with foreigners who ignored the congestion charge.

billythekid

They cant put points of your licence (yet!)

Just to clear up the fine thing - Changes to the Road Safety Act as of this year the DVLA will accept applications from any EU country for your address details in relation to speeding offences, and other traffic / parking offences and may also record details of the enquiry on your file. They (the other country) will then be entitled to use their powers to chase you for the fine, be it letters or even using debt collection as already mentioned.

My advice is to either pay or talk to a solicitor who will explain what may / may not happen if you dont pay. Its all fairly new stuff so I expect its full of technicalities, IYSWIM.

urban

iTrader: (1)

They can't touch your license.

I'll tell you whats even more or a farce.
I live in Northern Ireland - part of the UK, and we have UK driving licenses.
A colleague of mine was caught speeding last year on the way to our Welsh office.
He got a letter requesting his license etc.
He sent this off with a payment for the fine and the license was returned stating that because it was issued in Northern Ireland they couldn't endorse it.

Shaun

Jerome

Not sure if it works in the same way in Eire, but if you don't pay the fine, it goes to the registered keeper of the car, which will be the hire car company. They are then within their rights to deduct the fine from your credit card.

douglasb

Check your paperwork because as Jerome has said they can probably take the fine from your credit card. If they can do this they can also add a "handling charge" for their time and this could be on a "think of a number" basis.

Possibly best to pay up or the €80 might end up rather more expensive: they can't give you the points though.

DCR59

I was caught in June when I was over for the Donegal Rally.

Unmarked Forester STi and a radar gun, 137 km/h limit was 85.

Copper was pretty good considering the speed, and was more interested in looking at my JDM STi.
Told me I would be sent a fine in the post, but "advised" me to ignore it, because if I decided not to pay the fine there wasn't anything they could do about it.

Suresh

I live in Holland and got an autobahn speeding ticket a few years back (113kmh in 100), which the krauts sent direct to my home address. Needless to say I paid it without question.

Tidgy

pmsl, wish all coppers were like that

andy97

iTrader: (1)

A group of us were biking in Germany this year, picked up 9 tickets in less than five minutes going through two sets of cameras. Nothing ever came from it as they were forward facing

The women were using a hire car and got three tickets aswell. Each ticket was 19 euros, so not worth bothering about as the hire company just added it to the hire cost.