Woman fined for speed camera info on Facebook
Motorists beware: publicly informing others about the location of speed cameras on Swiss roads can be a costly affair.
Zurich cantonal police recently fined a woman 1,000 francs ($1,125) for posting information on her Facebook page about where a particular speed trap was located, the 20 Minutes newspaper reported online on Tuesday.
Cantonal police confirmed that the case was not isolated.
“We regularly come across warnings of this kind on social media networks,” police spokesman Stefan Oberlin told the newspaper.
Zurich city police said they also scan sites such as Facebook or Twitter to look for people making public information about speed camera sites.
Since 2013, publicizing the whereabouts of speed traps has been illegal in Switzerland after a change in the laws governing roads and highways.
However, 20 Minutes says the regulation is ambiguous.
It states that issuing “public warnings to road users concerning official traffic control devices” is punishable by a fine.
But the definition of “public” can be interpreted in different ways, the newspaper said.
Daniel Schnyder, a spokesman from the Zurich cantonal police force, said that a public statement is one that addresses more than 50 people.
“These days, everyone has more than 50 friends among their contacts,” he told 20 Minutes.
Of course, that may not be the case if you are an expat newly arrived in the country.
Thomas Rohrbach, spokesman for the federal highways office stressed that judges must evaluate each situation on a case-by-case basis.
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Zurich cantonal police recently fined a woman 1,000 francs ($1,125) for posting information on her Facebook page about where a particular speed trap was located, the 20 Minutes newspaper reported online on Tuesday.
Cantonal police confirmed that the case was not isolated.
“We regularly come across warnings of this kind on social media networks,” police spokesman Stefan Oberlin told the newspaper.
Zurich city police said they also scan sites such as Facebook or Twitter to look for people making public information about speed camera sites.
Since 2013, publicizing the whereabouts of speed traps has been illegal in Switzerland after a change in the laws governing roads and highways.
However, 20 Minutes says the regulation is ambiguous.
It states that issuing “public warnings to road users concerning official traffic control devices” is punishable by a fine.
But the definition of “public” can be interpreted in different ways, the newspaper said.
Daniel Schnyder, a spokesman from the Zurich cantonal police force, said that a public statement is one that addresses more than 50 people.
“These days, everyone has more than 50 friends among their contacts,” he told 20 Minutes.
Of course, that may not be the case if you are an expat newly arrived in the country.
Thomas Rohrbach, spokesman for the federal highways office stressed that judges must evaluate each situation on a case-by-case basis.
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