Truck now freed and on the way home, again, many thanks to vascoign for all of his help. best regards to you sir.over and out !
Glad to hear it Richmond. At least it’s been a learning curve and from what I’ve seen about learning lately, with the cost of uni’s etc, learning is damned expensive however you do it…
Re; Drivers laughing at Spanish cops- no one ever laughed at the Basque Brigade ,those cherry pickers always meant business. 
richmond:
Truck now freed and on the way home, again, many thanks to vascoign for all of his help. best regards to you sir.over and out !
good news, just goes to show that with a bit of spanish knowledge you got a discount
Vascoingles:
welshboyinspain:
routier:
Ok
so explain this…
ye get stopped and they spot a cracked or smashed headlight, something thats out of your control, it wasnt there several hrs before, ye get a 3000 + euro fine…
Thats good is it ?
Ye Carry a fellow passenger , who is also a HGV driver but is simply that a Passenger, not driving but merely catchin a lift , ye get fined as ye havent recorded their details on ye tacho, thats good is it ?
The guy who got stopped wasnt speeding and was not fined for any tacho offences so how would he be classed as having an advantage… ?now you’re just being silly a cracked headlight would be 150 euro reduced by 30% if paid in 30 days so would be 105 but i’d check it before starting and i’ve got metal headlamp protectors
the bloke in the passenger seat must register as being in the vehicle thats a european law, if he doesn’t like it spain has en excellent bus service
i know he wasn’t speeding but his vehicle was knowingly illegal as his limiter was not working so in their eyes he should be fined.
i don’t understand what is so hard for you to understand? i’m not saying the system is right but its there for a reason big fine means don’t do it, in the uk if you commit a crime and they send you to prison they quickly let you out again but if they were harsher and locked you up for longer people would commit less crime
as for the original fine of 3002 if he pays within 30 days it gets reduced by 30% i.e. 960? so thats a bit better isn’t it?actually a 25% discount was arranged today
Can you clarify how this works then, just in case?
You get stopped by the Police they fined a problem, and it’s a big fine?
Or is it just a deposit at this point?
If you admit guilt at the roadside do they take the fine there and then minus the 25% - 30% or do you have to wait for it to go through the legal system?
You agree you’re guilty within the time period and so they then give you back 25% - 30% of your deposit and take the rest as the fine or do you have apply for the discounted money back?
muckles:
Can you clarify how this works then, just in case?You get stopped by the Police they fined a problem, and it’s a big fine?
Or is it just a deposit at this point?
If you admit guilt at the roadside do they take the fine there and then minus the 25% - 30% or do you have to wait for it to go through the legal system?
You agree you’re guilty within the time period and so they then give you back 25% - 30% of your deposit and take the rest as the fine or do you have apply for the discounted money back?
not much to clarify really as a foreigner you either pay straight away or the truck goes nowhere,but as as under Spanish law if the Spaniard pays the fine in less than 15 days he gets a 25%-30% discount depending on the offence this automatically applies to the foreigners supposing of course that they know about it, many of them do not.
Vascoingles:
muckles:
Can you clarify how this works then, just in case?You get stopped by the Police they fined a problem, and it’s a big fine?
Or is it just a deposit at this point?
If you admit guilt at the roadside do they take the fine there and then minus the 25% - 30% or do you have to wait for it to go through the legal system?
You agree you’re guilty within the time period and so they then give you back 25% - 30% of your deposit and take the rest as the fine or do you have apply for the discounted money back?not much to clarify really as a foreigner you either pay straight away or the truck goes nowhere,but as as under Spanish law if the Spaniard pays the fine in less than 15 days he gets a 25%-30% discount depending on the offence this automatically applies to the foreigners supposing of course that they know about it, many of them do not.
Thanks Vascoingles
Besides contacing you 
how as a foreigner would you go about getting the discount?
details of discount and payment are written on the ticket (in spanish)
i got stopped while in Spain 2yrs ago. for suppossedly straying over the white line when there was a no over taking sign. at least thats what i thought the copper said. Anyway he let me go no on the spot fine just a telling off. A sigh of relief i thought. 8months down the line i get a registered letter that i at to sign for. Open it up hey presto 150euro fine for overtaking in a restricted area.
I couldnt believe. I wanted to appeal or not even bother paying. reason being why did he let me go without mention a fine and also i didnt overtake anyone. i knew i wouldnt be driving in Spain for a while but i got in touch with an english lawyer in Spain through a brits website. He advised me to just pay it as an appeal would cost me more in the long run. As for not paying it. he told me that when i did step foot in Spain i was liable to be arrested at the airport as it would show on my records if they checked my passport on the machine.
If i’d committed the offence i would’nt mind but all i did was going round the corner touched the white line.
After going through the toll on the E7 and them jumping in there car and following me. i had a feeling i was gonna get pulled. 
gazzah:
i got stopped while in Spain 2yrs ago. for suppossedly straying over the white line when there was a no over taking sign. at least thats what i thought the copper said. Anyway he let me go no on the spot fine just a telling off. A sigh of relief i thought. 8months down the line i get a registered letter that i at to sign for. Open it up hey presto 150euro fine for overtaking in a restricted area.
I couldnt believe. I wanted to appeal or not even bother paying. reason being why did he let me go without mention a fine and also i didnt overtake anyone. i knew i wouldnt be driving in Spain for a while but i got in touch with an english lawyer in Spain through a brits website. He advised me to just pay it as an appeal would cost me more in the long run. As for not paying it. he told me that when i did step foot in Spain i was liable to be arrested at the airport as it would show on my records if they checked my passport on the machine.
If i’d committed the offence i would’nt mind but all i did was going round the corner touched the white line.
After going through the toll on the E7 and them jumping in there car and following me. i had a feeling i was gonna get pulled.
did ye pay it ? 150 euro!■■ unreal!
yes i did pay the fine. only after hearing about someone that did’nt pay who then got pulled in Spain and when they did a check on him and ended up paying the fine plus 6months interest before they let him go.
I followed the instructions of the adviser paid on the internet and they dropped it to 90euro’s.
I was stopped by RedCaps entering Spain at Irun November 2009.
After a 20 minute check I was fined as follows …
4500 for having laminated Community Authorisation
1500 wrongly calibrated ( by Scania ) speed limiter
2500 for not recording journey in car 60kms to collect truck as other work
Fines paid to Red Caps by local company as " deposit " , immediately appealed at Court , still waiting for results of appeals.
I don’t send my trucks to Spain anymore because in my opinion the level of fines being imposed is completely disproportionate to the alleged offences committed. Mistakes are made by drivers and by operators - the fines levied can put companies out of business.
david1686:
4500 for having laminated Community Authorisation
What exactly is the offence? you’ve not defaced it or altered it by laminating it, simply an excuse to cop for foreign dosh.
These fines are getting absolutely stupid, 8,500 Euro’s!!! Mental.
Ross.
That area is notorious for mega fines,i can feel my ■■■ cheeks clench up while transiting,i then can relax in territory controlled by the Guardia Civil,which i know is the whole of Spain,with Navara and Euskadi ,two different regions,is there a competition going on for the biggest fine.?
bigr250:
david1686:
4500 for having laminated Community AuthorisationWhat exactly is the offence? you’ve not defaced it or altered it by laminating it, simply an excuse to cop for foreign dosh.
These fines are getting absolutely stupid, 8,500 Euro’s!!! Mental.
Ross.
Coffeeholic:
david1686:
Authorisation , a genuine Certified Copy,was laminated when it was issued 7 years ago for protection.It has been inspected many times by authorities all over Europe, including Spain , never any problems or questions until last month’s incident at Irun.
The Spanish, IMHO, are simply on a revenue raising exercise, imposing massive fines for seemingly trivial offences.
Not really trivial, it seems the fine will have been for not having an authorisation as they only last a maximum of 5 years
david1686:
Apparently the fine for having a copy of an authorisation in Germany is less than € 500You’ve got that arse about face, you would be fined for not having a copy and instead carrying the original.
The search facility is working at least 
Vascoingles:
not much to clarify really as a foreigner you either pay straight away or the truck goes nowhere,but as as under Spanish law if the Spaniard pays the fine in less than 15 days he gets a 25%-30% discount depending on the offence this automatically applies to the foreigners supposing of course that they know about it, many of them do not.
I think, and I stress that I THINK…, that this is against EU regulations. As far as I can recall, if the officer stops you and issues a ticket and a fine, then he has to treat you in exactly the same way as he would a National. Therefore, if a national has 30 days to pay then so should a Foreigner. This “on the spot” system is illegal I think.
My mistake in original post , Authorisation was issued in 2005 so was in date , offence was for having it laminated
david1686:
My mistake in original post , Authorisation was issued in 2005 so was in date , offence was for having it laminated
I was advised to get them laminated, to stop coffee spills + oily thumb prints from destroying the the bloody things 
And here`s me, thinking the EU is a level playing field 
Most of us will know the French authorities do not accept photocopies of documents,but still my ex -bosses are happy to send me out with photocopied papers,even after i have told them not to.
In your case,i know you had a LEGAL document,and for some reason,which is bizzare,they have viewed your permit,and regarded it as if you DONT have one,hence the large fine,for no permit.I always try and ask for the bible of fines that all traffic police should carry with them,and i very politly ask to see the rule/law/regulation number that is the official indicator of the said offence,the telephone number size fine never matches what the officer at the road side has dished out,due to their discretion at the time.
Stanley Mitchell:
david1686:
My mistake in original post , Authorisation was issued in 2005 so was in date , offence was for having it laminatedI was advised to get them laminated, to stop coffee spills + oily thumb prints from destroying the the bloody things
And here`s me, thinking the EU is a level playing field
as stated god knows how often things like this can be appealed and won and the easiest way to do this is employ an agent who pays all fines straight away and then automatically appeals them even those for which you are actually guilty, we get a fair amount of fines reimbursed every year.
Yes the EU is a level playing field that is why in the UK drivers are hauled up before the magistrate for minor offences something that does not happen anywhere else