Do you have to pay parking tickets received in France?

When skiing in Chamonix in February this year my friend parked the hire van in the wrong place and got a parking ticket. He has just received it through the post from the french police, not the hire company. It is 135 euros going up to 375 if not paid in 76 days.

Although we have offered to chip in for it my mate reckons he can get away without paying it as they are unlikely to pursue it. Can he get away with it? Anyone else had similar experiences?

 

Sorry , I think he should pay it . Surely it's only right to obey laws and regulations in a foreign country . We're quick to slag off foreigners in this country who abuse our hospitality.

 

The other way around.
Some German people I know got a ticket in the UK for parking on a double yellow line.
Promptly tore it up and threw it away.
8 weeks later they recieved a reminder through the post from the UK.............. ah the magic of computers!!
12 weeks after the event the Gestapo (German Police) turned up on their front doorstep to collect the cash!
You can try but there is nowhere to hide in the EU.
Tony

 

Oui(to the originally set question). Should he get away with it in any country?

 

I believe he has got to pay it the same as this country, the hire company would have given his address and I think when he signed the hire agreement it says that he would pay any fines associated,

 

The strange thing is if we get caught speeding by a speed camera in France we are let off, but if you get caught by the police it is an instant fine and if you haven't got it on you they march you down to the nearest bank,
Steve

 

A mate of mine got pulled at customs on a return trip

 

they may have got away with it if it weren't a hire vehicle, but if the French pursue the hire company then the hire company is guaranteed to pursue the hirer as per their hire terms etc. its gonna have to be paid , either the cheap way of the expensive way. A few years back a friend of mine got done for speeding in Scotland, he ignored it, the next time he went to Scotland they picked him up and threw him in the clink and then let him pay

 

You've had the long arm of the gendarme?

 

In the end the hire car company will pay it and then get the money back from him.

Better having the courts chasing you than the hire car company. The EU courts have ZERO ability to drag you through the UK courts. They can get you when you return though, although for parking there is usually a 6 month limit. The hire car companies do have the ability to drag you into court though, especially if its a mainstream one like hertz as they have offices based in UK jurisdiction. The foreign courts send you scare tactic letters in the hope that you'll pay. Most people do. I've never paid foreign speeding fines. I've paid on the spot fines when I've had an armed copper in front of me though!

I always pay for parking as it's more likely you'll get towed than a ticket though.

 

Clearly they already have pursued it to the extent that having located the 'offender' in a different country, they've gone on to send a notice. Having gone to that length they are hardly likely to say oh lets not bother he lives abroad. Pretty much any authority that is owed money often go to extraordinary lengths to recover it - even if it ends up costing them more.

 

Sorry I stand to be corrected as from the 30th May this yr you have to pay fines, no points and if you don't pay you could be arrested when you enter France again,

 

Le booze or le culture or le Havre?

 

When we came home from our round the world trip we had a speeding ticket from Tazmania waiting on the door mat.

It was in my dads name as he rented the car, although we'd both been driving it.

He decided he was unlikely to go back to Australia so ignored it. That was almost 4years ago. We haven't heard a peep since.

Like said above though. I suspect Europe is a bit different

 

My French collegue's wife was aprehended on arrival at the airport in Paris, while going home for a vacation.
She had to pay a couple of outstanding, speeding and parking fines, before she would be allowed into the country..........and she is French!!
Tony