Fines never arrive

Foreign speeders: Austria falls over twice

The police are once again targeting speeders this year. But many foreign traffic offenders are getting away scot-free.

(Bild: Rojsek-Wiedergut Uta)

There is great excitement in Italy because Austrian traffic offenders cannot currently be sent a speeding ticket. But there should be no joy in this country. The Republic is losing out on hundreds of thousands of euros in fines from foreign speeders every year. There are two reasons for this legal scurrility: One even benefits other countries.

On average, more than five million traffic violations are registered in Austria every year, around a third of which are committed by foreign drivers. Unfortunately, the prosecution of these traffic offenders with foreign license plates was and still is not very productive. The European data comparison systems EUCARIS and CBE now provide ways of tracking down license plate holders across borders. But this is by no means enough to actually get the full money.