Should you pay a speeding fine from Spain once you're back in the UK?

Hi there

A friend's son and a group of his friends hired a car in Spain.  Once back in the UK they received notification from the car hire company and the police in two separate communications that they were caught by a camera speeding and must pay 300 euros.  What would you all advise?  I tend to think they should ignore it, but would like to be able to give my friend some other opinions.  Thanks in advance. 

We had three in a matter of days, (.I know no comments on that please) and we chose to pay them on-line. There is this thread on another forum about this situation, I think you pay your money or you take your chance...........

http://www.myspain.es/forum/motoring-spain/22342-paying-speeding-ticket-spain-uk-can-i-ignore-12.html

They have the technology and will probably come after you in the UK. Sorry, it's best to pay and avoid any problems in the future.

 Generally the hire car company gets the fine (the car belongs to them) and they take it off the credit card the car was hired with.  

Thanks for that poppyseed.  I have checked out the link and sent it on to my friend.  It was a group of boys playing in a group and the car was hired in my friend's son's name, although someone else was driving.  So, I've suggested that they all split the cost and pay quickly as you can often pay less if you pay quickly (I've asked them to drop the Spanish letter off so that I can translate it), or it will end up purely a potential problem for my  friend's son and the driver and the others will get off scot free.  It's an ethical problem as well as a legal one - if it happened over here, only the driver would be liable of course.  Thanks again.

I would wait to see if it is taken from the credit card.  If it isn't I would ignore it.  How are the Spanish authorities going to collect the fine?

Yes, Tamara, but there's a real racket going on at the moment and a lot of targeting of foreign drivers.  300 euros is a ridiculous amount; it's more like £60 in the UK.  How do they justify that amount?  Answer: they don't even try.  We were fined 100 euros a while back for not stopping at a stop sign, in the middle of a road when we wanted to turn left.   There was no car visible from any direction, we were in the middle of nowhere and really, it should have been a give way sign as it was more dangerous to stop than to just slow down before turning.  They've got some real scams going on at the moment to boost the coffers - it was reported last week in the Telegraph that the police in Portugal are also targeting foreign tourists.  Should my friend's son pay if it were 500 euros or 1,000 euros?  The sky's the limit as far as the Guardia Civil is concerned.  Several officers from the cartel from which the Guardia near us operate (and where the police who stopped us are based) were up for drug dealing shortly after we were fined.  Dealing with the Spanish police is not the same as dealing with the British police.

The amount that a person can be fined for a traffic offence in Spain, just like that in UK, is controlled by law.  The authorities do not just pick a figure at random.

Speed kills, fact.

Thus the experts, not mums of kids who break the law in a foreign country, decide what the speed limits and fines should be.

It is done to protect the majority.   UK police are far more vigorous in enforcing traffic law than their Spanish equivalents.    Maybe that is why the death rate as a result of vehicular accidents is far lower in the UK.

Pay up and get real and stop insinuating that Spain is some sort of Micky Mouse country.   Do us all a favour.   If you really think it’s so bad here, please stay away and keep your kids away too.

Can everyone please stop telling me it is my son.  And don't tell me to pay up and get real, as I haven't done anything and neither has my son, who is 14 and at school as we speak.  Read my post properly.  It is the son of a friend.  And I, too, am very much against speeding.  But what if they were doing 1 kilometre over the limit?  I'd love it if they had speed cameras everywhere, because I hate the dangerous driving in Spain and France for that matter - there never seem to be any police stopping people talking on their mobiles and leaving about an inch behind you as they're desperate to overtake you.  Their main  concern is not with enforcing safe driving, but very much with raising money.

I still say 300 euros is ridiculous and what is the law which lays out these amounts?  And why is it for example 100 euros if you pay on the spot but 200 if you don't etc.?  Why can't European law be uniform on this matter?  I also dispute the idea that the UK police are more rigorous.  It is more that we now have a culture whereby many of us believe in driving safely and are more considerate of other people.  It is not down to enforcement.   In our spot in Granada province, the police park themselves on a roundabout, near a village where there is a cash machine and just try and get everyone for every little thing they can.  And as I said, the local Guardia are so clean that they've been busted for drug dealing. 

Why are giving your friend's son advise? Let  his mother sort the little coward out. He was speeding in Spain where the fines are graduated, the faster you go the more you are fined.

His mother won't be advising him as she is seriously ill.  And he wasn't driving - his mate was - how dare you call him a 'little coward'? Would you pay 300 euros for something you didn't do?   Get your facts straight before slinging insults.  The earlier replies were very helpful and polite (and thank you Poppyseed, Tamara and Sanchez) but they are getting more and more offensive.  Is this a common pattern?  It is so unnecessary.

And for the last time: I AM NOT HIS MOTHER!  So, stop all this sexist putting down of 'mums' and putting police officers and Spain on a pedestal.

Can't believe any of this: 

What sort of person is asking this sort of question in the first place? If you are a responsible adult with kids of your own, I suggest you offer the correct advice - PAY THE FINE YOU DOLT!

As for those of you that consider advising not paying the penalty for breaking the law of the land. ** EDITED - Offensive **

Ooh, now that was really unnecessary.  I REPEAT:  MY SON'S FRIEND WAS NOT DRIVING THE CAR, BUT HIS NAME WAS ON THE CAR HIRE AGREEMENT.  He is therefore being asked to pay a fine for speeding when he was not driving the car.  Helpful suggestions are always welcome. But please stop the name calling or I will be reporting you to Justin.

From a psychological viewpoint, though, I am intrigued at the anger that I have inadvertently whipped up.  Any ideas about where this has come from, from the more thoughtful ones amongst you?  Intelligent and considered comments are especially appreciated.  Clearly there is some kind of fierce pro-Spanish sentiment amongst many 'settlers' and, as I have often observed, a very anti-English sentiment amongst many of the English in Spain ('Britain has gone to the dogs' - code for 'there are too many immigrants', and so on), but what else could be behind this vehemence?

Whoever was driving is the coward son,friend,no one just pay what is due and stop calling the police for doing the job they are paid to do. That is what is so annoying blame all and sundie for it. Spain is not the place to defy the law.

ALL THAT SHIFTING THE BLAME IS VERY CHILDISH AND THAT'S WHAT i DON'T LIKE

Jesus Christ - you put this stupid question in an open forum, just because you think that you, your offspring or their friends are entitled to be above the law speaks volumes about you! If his name is on the hire agreement he is responsible! Are you just another one of these bleeding heart socialists who think that the world owes them a living? Honest hardworking folk continually pay higher prices and taxes to support this dispicable behaviour by these parasites!

It does not matter, who was to blame, who hired the car, whose offspring it is.

The answer is if the law is broken (and you imply that it was) then the fine must be honoured.

SICK AND TIRED OF THIS WHINGING,

IT IS NOT MY FAULT ATTITUDE

This is all very thought-provoking.  I am now considering conducting a post-doctoral thesis on either 'the psychology of over-identification with the indigenous population and the subsequent need for blind loyalty towards the host nation' or 'abuse and defamation in internet forums/fora (as you prefer)' or maybe a combination of the two.  I am particularly interested in how it is the section of the expatriate population with the least success at integration, forging links with the local population etc., often due to location of their residences and/or lack of skills in the native language, are those who most subscribe to these approaches.  Any further ideas very welcome.  In the meantime, it's back to work.