Complete Guide to Speed Limits and Speeding Fines for Europe

Renting a car when you’re on a holiday can be a blessing or it can be a complete pain. As if it wasn’t hard enough trying to remember that you’re driving on the wrong side of the road, there are plenty of other traffic regulations, rules, and penalties that you have to familiarize yourself with so you don’t end up paying through the nose or worse, in jail.

For example, you can be fined from 50 euros in Belgium for speeding up to 10 km/h to 1500 euros in France for speeding by more than 50 km/h. Note that in this case the fine can bring about a suspension of the driving licence, a suspension which could last up to three years, as well as a three-month imprisonment penalty. Here are some handy guidelines for you to make your life easier:

Speed Limits

Speed limits vary according to road size:

• In cities or built-up areas the speed limit is usually of 50 km/h
• In other roads outside built-up areas the speed limit can vary from 64 km/h to 110 km/h according to the country.
• In motorways the speed limit starts from 90 km/h and in Germany, for example, there is no speed limit, but it is advised to don’t go beyond 130 km/h.

To have a comprehensive guide to the speed limits for each type of road in different European countries, you can see the complete speed limit in Europe table at the end of this article.

Fines and Penalties!

So, what happens if you go beyond the speed limits? In this case, you’ll have to pay a fine which can also be associated to a penalty. These depend on the country where the offence has been committed as well as on the speeding regulations established for each zone. The fines and penalties differ a lot according to each country and there are countries with low, medium or high strictness, as you can see as follows:

• Low-strictness countries: “don’t speed too much”

 In these countries, penalties are not too severe, whether they consist of fines, point sanctions… In Poland, for example, the highest fine you can get is of about 147 euros, in Ireland, speeding costs you 80 euros and two points from your driving licence while in Greece, you can pay up to 350 euros.

• Medium-strictness countries: “think twice before accelerating”

In most of the European countries, the sanction level is ‘medium’. In Belgium, for example, speeding fines amount to 50 euros to which you can add 10 or 5 euros – depending on the zone – for each extra km/h beyond the limit, while in Italy, you can be fined up to 1,433 euros for going over the limit by more than 40 km/h. In Germany, on the other hand, even though there is no speed limit on motorways, you can be disqualified to drive for up to 3 months for speeding over 70 km/h on other roads.

• High-strictness countries: “why don’t you go by bus?”

Be careful in these countries: fines are extremely severe like in France where, if you go over the limit by more than 50 km/h, the fine will amount to 1500 euros while 6 points will be withdrawn from your licence, you will be disqualified for up to 3 years… and might even be put to jail for up to three months!

Still, the most severe country when it comes to traffic offences and particularly, to speeding, is Finland where there is no upper limit to the amount of the fines. As a matter of fact, they not only depend on the severity of the offence but also on the driver’s net income! Remember the Nokia Multimedia Director, Anssi Vanjokki who, in 2002, had to pay the highest fine in history: 116,000 euros for going over the speed limit by 25 km/h on his Harley Davidson!

How to compare the penalties with those from Spain?

In Spain, like in Germany, France, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom, there also exists a point-withdrawal system with the possibility of having your licence removed. However, in Spain the fines and sanctions for speeding are not as severe as, say, in France where you can even go to jail, or in Finland, where there is no upper limit to the amount of the fine.

However, to some people this leniency is not appreciated as you will see in this video where, illegally, vandals choose to remove the speed cameras and thus ensure that  they are not caught on the speed camera!

At the end of this article, you can find a grid with the fines and penalties for speeding in the various European countries. We have also added a table with the sanctions in Spain to enable you to compare them and to always bear them in mind during your Spanish "circuitos" (tours in Spanish)!

• Speed limit in Europe

• Penalties for each speed limit in Europe

• Penalties for each speed limit in Spain

* Disclaimer: The data about speeding regulations and penalizations that appear in this post are designed to be informative and are subject to change by any of the official departments. In any case they should not be taken as an official data. For more information, you should visit each relevant country's official website.

Written: 04 jun 2008, 10:08 by Logitravel | with 0 comments |

Filed under: speeding, speed limits, speeding fines, europe