Yesterday evening, on my way home, I spotted 2 blue agents, lying on the floor looking at an open briefcase, that was teethered to a tripod mounted device.

They were under a tree in a field, the road in question was a 80 km limited road.

Any idea on range of these machines, it is 10s of meters or 100s of meters?

I get the feeling the men in blue are more active than ever...

Once you get something to hold on to please share your valuable experience here
How much do you budget for traffic fines?

What are the chances of contesting a fine on the grounds that the speed limit sign (50 km/h) was covered by tree branches?

This one isn't visible from a distance, but only at about 10-20m can you see it, so I actually missed it. Any point in contesting, or should I just suck it up and pay?

If it's a administrative fine ("Ordnungsbusse", anonymous, up to about CHF 250) then suck it up and pay.

Otherwise there's no simple answer. If a ban would seriously affect you and/or if you're planning to stay in Switzerland permanently I would discuss your options with an attorney.

zero. Poor observation is the excuse you'll try? I would not.

Hi all,

Have a question. Have been flashed by a camera at a cross section, actually I didn't pass with the red light; I however stopped 1 meter after the line. The light was yellow so I stopped but not too fast because of my small kid: as soon as it turned red, I got the flash even if my car was not moving. What kind of fine I'll get, 250.- CHF ?
Is there any way I can defend myself saying that actually I was stopped, just around 1 meter after the line and that I didn't really pass with the red light?

if you stopped after the line, you have passed with the red light.
there are these rubber detection strips in the road, starting about a meter after the line. you have probably just stopped on it.

Most likely, yes.

Fighting a CHF 250 administrative fine is not worth it. You will lose and end up paying quite a bit more.

No. Amber (UK term for your 'yellow') means Stop, so if you made such a claim you would be damning yourself by your own words.

There used to be a a PSO in the UK with the tagline "Don't be an Amber Gambler" to reinforce this point.

Not only that, the light is amber for around 3 seconds. The camera should arm at red and fire a very short time after that.

From what's described for this red light "offence", I would say
a) wait for the post to come
b) don't worry while waiting
c) the fine if anything comes will be the standard 250 francs

You may find nothing comes.

But - again - amber is not a quick light and you must approach junctions and be prepared to stop.

Agree with the previous few posters on this. From a legal standpoint, over the line by 1 meter is the same as having gone through the intersection. As for fighting it, what wording could you reasonably use without getting in further trouble? You say you didn't stop quickly because you had a small child in the car. This could imply you were either driving too fast, or he wasn't properly secured to avoid injury from a fast brake, or both. I'm not saying that's the case. I'm just saying that's how any argument could be perceived by the authorities.

OK I'm too lazy to look this up or go through the 100s of pages about speeding fines, so I'll make this short: How much is talking on the phone on a Swiss highway doing 130 instead of 120?

On it's own a genuine 130 would be something like 100chf, I think, as it's 5 over the penalty level. But if that was your speedo measure you're almost certainly safe, as most overread by ~8%. As for the phone, it's very unlikely, although I've no first-hand experience of it, that it would be noticed on the automated system from a camera flash.

I'm assuming it was a camera, but ifyou were stopped then I have no idea.

It was a camera and from what I've seen in the past the pictures are very sharp (yes, I've had a few ) and this one would show me holding a phone to my ear.

12 month ban
Compulsory re-test
2,000chf
OR
28 days in prison.

Of course it's probably just night prison, so you go to work & have some piece & quiet from the wife / GF

I think it's 100 francs for the phone offence and 40 or 100 francs depending on how much your speedo overreads.

I assume it flashed?

And you do know a car hands-free kit is very cheap and all kinds of models exist? Almost everyone I see with a phone to their ear drives like shit so please don't be one of them. And don't be the one holding the phone in your hand on speakerphone rather than to your ear because the offence is also complete when you're doing that - it's just harder to spot from some angles.

Thanks. That cheers me up tremendously.

I am sure my GF/wife will be delighted, too.

Yes, it flashed and yes, I know. Usually I don't use the phone when driving or use the hands-free, but it wasn't at hand and I had to make just a short phone call; you know how it is, other people do it all the time and never get caught and I do it once and bingo.

Firstly I'm no angel, I have a history of naughtyness and a unhealthy relationship with the Zug strassenverkehrsamt.

I would remove licenses for using a phone whilst driving. It's similar to drink driving.

You are putting everyone else on the road at risk. If you find it difficult not to make calls and are tempted put your phone in the boot where you cannot reach it. Pull over in a rest area then make your call.

Whatever it is it can wait. Better to be safe than in a pile of twisted metal and a death on your hands. You're in control of a 2 tonne lump that can cause death. It only takes 0.1s to go from normal to a fatality.

It's extremely selfish putting your phone call in front of everyone else's safety.

http://www.distraction.gov/download/...unk-Driver.pdf

100chf for the phone + speeding table fine of not much. <Rant over!>

Only the first post is needed
See link "official price list"

Phone is item 311 and CHF 100.
Speeding will be either item 303.3.a 1-5km/h over CHF 20 or Item 303.3.b 6-10km/h over CHF 60.

Yes they check for phone and seatbelt usage. That one would be item 312.1 and CHF 60. Source: One of my GF's speeding ticket.