LivingTravelCar rental, parking tickets, speeding tickets and red light...

Car rental, parking tickets, speeding tickets and red light cameras

In this age of speed cameras and red light cameras, it is only a matter of time before parking and moving violations catch up with car rental customers.

Consider these scenarios:

  • You plan a trip to Washington, DC, but decide to stay in a suburban hotel. Drive your rental car to downtown Washington on New York Avenue. Shortly after your trip, a company called American Traffic Solutions charges your credit card for a red light violation and adds an administrative fee.
  • Several weeks after your vacation in France, your car rental company sends you a letter saying you received a speeding ticket. One of the many speed cameras in France captured an image of your rental car exceeding the speed limit while you were in possession of the car. The letter explains your requirement to pay for the ticket when it arrives and documents the car rental company’s charge to your credit card for administrative fees, which cover the cost of providing your name, address, and other information to the issuing authority. of tickets.
  • You travel to Italy, rent a car and drive to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. While looking for a place to park, you accidentally stop in a parking lot reserved for municipal vehicles. Realizing your mistake, you leave immediately, without stopping or parking in the parking lot. Months after your trip, your car rental company sends you a notice of a parking violation, including a hefty fine from the city of Pisa. To add insult to injury, the car rental company charges an administrative fee to your credit card because they provided your contact information to city officials.

To pay or not to pay?

If you get a ticket in another part of the world, you may be tempted to throw it away. States often share motor vehicle information with each other and with insurance companies, and that your car rental company has given your personal data to the ticketing authority or your authorized collection company. Think carefully before ignoring the ticket. You may be setting yourself up for a series of annoying letters and phone calls, at the very least.

Parking fines

Cities around the world restrict parking in certain areas and charge for parking in others. If you know that you have violated the parking regulations, you must pay your parking ticket. This is especially true if you illegally parked while driving a rental car and can pay the fine immediately. If you don’t pay the parking ticket right away, your car rental company will likely track you down, charge you for administrative costs, and provide your personal information to the city that issued your parking ticket.

Eventually, you will receive a violation notice or a charge to your credit card from a third-party fine collection service.

Should you fight a parking ticket issued in error?

If you receive a ticket by mistake, you can prove your case and have sufficient command of the local language, you may want to fight the ticket while you are still in the country. Take your evidence to the parking authority and do your best to fill out the forms they give you. If you are writing in a foreign language, check a dictionary to make sure you fill in each field correctly. Be confident, show your documentation, and insist on a quick decision.

Once you’ve returned home, the cost of fighting a parking ticket can be higher than the parking ticket itself. Consider how much time and energy you’ll spend fighting the parking ticket, compare the cost of your time to the fine and the amounts of administrative fees, and decide whether to pay or fight.

Speed tickets and speed cameras

Speed cameras allow cities and counties to fine motorists for speeding based only on photographic evidence. If you receive a speeding citation in error, you will need to show that you were elsewhere that day and time to avoid the fine.

In the United States, some car rental companies have partnered with American Traffic Solutions, a company that installs red lights and speed cameras and collects fines from traffic laws and toll violators. When you sign your rental agreement with one of those companies, you agree that your credit card information may be provided to American Traffic Solutions for billing purposes. You may discover that American Traffic Solutions has billed you for a traffic ticket before you receive an official notice of a speeding ticket.

American Traffic Solutions works with collection agencies, so you should consider paying your fine right away if you know you broke the law. Otherwise, you may be subject to phone calls, letters, and other collection agency tactics, and you will end up paying your fine anyway.

Red light cameras

Many cities have installed red light cameras at key intersections. These cameras are motion activated and record at least two images of offenders’ vehicles. In some cities, red light cameras also record short videos of each offender. If you receive a notice that a red light has run but you have evidence to the contrary, you must dispute the allegation in writing.

If you were driving a rental car when the violation allegedly occurred, you will receive a violation notice from your rental car company. This notice will include information about the administrative charges billed by the car rental company to your credit card.

Your best options for contesting red light camera tickets include documenting your presence elsewhere and / or proving that you were not driving the car when the violation occurred ( Tip: You will need to review official photographs and provide evidence documenting your whereabouts to prove this claim)

Where to park your car during your trip

There's nothing like picking up a rental car, navigating unfamiliar roads, finding your hotel, and being confronted by a forest of "No" signs.

Are car buyback leases better than car rentals in Europe?

You know the car rental exercise. You search for the best price, then start booking a rental for your European vacation. Then come the

10 Easy Ways to Lower Your Car Rental Costs

Rent a car? Keep your costs down by following these 10 easy tips:

What to do if your rental car breaks down

One of the benefits of renting a car is the peace of mind of knowing that the car you are driving is in good shape. However, what if your

More