€200 fine for HIDs in Austria

[Grey Beard]

Quite right, expect the worst

Much the same as my German bike instructor told me. He used to be a long distance lorry driver and found the UK police to be much more pleasant than the German police, especially in the event of an accident.

However, my wife had our car written off last year on the autobahn by a German HGV and the police were polite and efficient under the circumstances.

Grey Beard

 

[Bugbear]

It varies in France.

I've been stopped for document check and ended up in a cafe having coffee with the bike police who stopped us (it was a very cold day, we offered, they accepted)

I've also been stopped for speeding 94 in a 90 and they were absolute barstewards.

The main difference between here and the UK is that you simply cannot argue your point, they are part of the army in France and can have a bit of 'squaddie' unbending mentality (no disrespect to army guys)

They do seem a bit more reasonable with BMW riders due, I think, to the fact that they ride the same bikes.

 

[Big Derek]

Travelling abroad - rule no 3

the softest and fairest police in the world are the British.
Everywhere else they are unfriendly, uncommunicative and generally have guns.
Don't expect to be treated nicely in another country if you've pissed them off.

Well i have been in Paris and talked to police , they even had aright laugh hand cuffed my wife as a joke in a bar, were dead good to talk to (remembering they were police).

In Rems i was run at by a get away car and i had to mount the kerb to avoid this idiot going the wrong way, damaged my oil filter and sump guard , the 2 police were very good got me a local Honda dealer and even came back to hotel to tell me they had nicked the nutter.. again friendly and civil.

In Italy we were pulled whilst i was taking a tour of bikes to Sorento we had a bit of bantter apologised for speeding and we were all OK.

In Spain I have been pulled (not with HIDS but lower fog light) and after a few mins we were again all chatting about bikes and scooters that they have to nick it was all as good as you could expect whilst talking to police abroad remembering i was the foreigner lol

In Germany I was leading a tour i had arranged and one of the riders sped through some lights breaking the speed limit. He was pulled and booked and again the Police were fine fair cop we joked about their Christams Turkey fund! and laughed at where the €60 fine was ending up. Again no prob, but the Landeck police (two bikers) were almost Rude and totally un interested in anything other than showing they had the power to take €200 per bike of us in a un welcoming/or fair cop attitude....

They are taking advantage of us and beware if your going to Austria.....

 

[Grey Beard]

For info - Germany also enforce the after market HID rule. Instant fail in TÜV /MOT test and €80/offence and one point on the (German) driving licence, if stopped. Doesn't matter if you have 1 or 4 after market HID burners fitted in a standard halogen lamp, the fine is still €80 (last year's rates).

You are only allowed one HID to be fitted to a bike in Germany. It must have the appropriate E number moulded into the external glass of the lamp. Touratech supply a spot lamp for circa €350, which is legal and would be wired into the Hi Beam circuit. Wunderlich and presumably others, including factory fitted options will offer similar legal options. Substituting an HID burner for an H7 halogen is NOT legal, even if set up on a beam alignment setter.

Dipped headlamps are compulsory at all times, including daylight for motorbikes in Germany. This is normally hard wired on the bike's electrics.

(Re dipped lamps on cars in Austria, our German car automatically illuminates the dipped head lamps when running, even if the light switch is off).

Grey Beard

 

[Rusty]

Sounds like they were a right couple of Grumpy Bastards !!
Shame on them.

 

[Shurv]

You state that you had HID's AND spots, I presume HID's were in the OE headlights?.With a pillion and luggage I'll wager you were blindingly bright from the front with your lights pointing skywards.In daylight on open roads, dipped beam is plenty to be seen,putting spots on in daylight is asking for trouble, which you got. No different to the chavs running their hatch's with fogs on all the time, blinding and irritating. I had 2 sets of spots ( non HID) on my 1150, BUT, I only used them at night,one set (configured low and to the left) on dipped beam, then the 2nd set wired into main beam.If I was commuting down the M1 into London every day, I'd put my spots on if filtering, otherwise night time only.The simplest thing to do is keep yer spots off.

 

[swissrob]

That's why I no longer visit Austria by bike or car. Application of road laws by the local police can be very arbitrary: A few years back I got done for speeding in my Morgan +8 by an Austrian cop who visually estimated my speed. To be clear: he had no radar/laser/vascar equipment in his car when he was parked by the side of the road near the Reschenpass. Austria is the only EU country where this is possible.

BTW: most European countries have laws against after-market HIDs. The UK is very tolerant in this respect. The way to avoid collecting an "HID ticket" is to point out to the copper that one's bike has passed a UK MOT and consequently is road-legal in the whole of the EU - and to refuse to pay any fine. Take your MOT certificate with you to shut up the EU/Austrian bureaucrats.

HTH,
Achim

you will be pleased to know that in the UK no recording device is required either, it just needs the opinion of a police officer. He does not need to state your actual speed, just that in is opinion you were exceeding the speed limit.

As for the refusal to pay, you will find that this means you will not be allowed to continue your journey and your bike will be carted off leaving you to walk.

I see a lot of gs1200 adv over here with hid spots - all of them are UK reg BTW, they are blinding because they are set horizontal rather than set slightly downwards, this is in daylight never mind night time, i can see them on 1 section of the highway 3kms away and its blinding bobbing away, coupled with the fact that the reflectors are not designed for HIDS.

I can see why plod may have taken an interest.

 

[Big Derek]

You state that you had HID's AND spots, I presume HID's were in the OE headlights?.With a pillion and luggage I'll wager you were blindingly bright from the front with your lights pointing skywards.

Well i beg to differ but each to their own i like the triangle idea of the three light far more noticeable than just a dipped beam, As to your wager well i am afraid you would have lost the lights are white not blue not blinding and they have been fine, on a sports bike i had other hids which i use to always get flashed at and i changed them because of that. The lights on my GSA have been fitted by Les Wassall they also have the anti dazzle bulbs, and they are not blinding!

2 up and riding make no difference if you set your ESA up and i always make sure my spots are on and not annoying anyone, i have covered some 30k in two years across Europe and the UK on that bike and always had my hids on never a problem until we came across Tute and Plute in Landeck!

So I will keep my Lights ON!

 

[swissrob]

i have just returned from a few weeks in mexico, i saw 1 gsa and yep you guessed it, full fecking hids in every light possible

 

[Mr K]

Friends were stopped by Spanish Police for HID headlights and told HIDs were illegal without auto-leveling.
Fine was E200 but Spanish Police seem more laid back than Austrian ones, so friends escaped fine.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

i have just returned from a few weeks in mexico, i saw 1 gsa and yep you guessed it, full fecking hids in every light possible

He was on 'an adventure'

 

[bowser]

That's why I no longer visit Austria by bike or car. Application of road laws by the local police can be very arbitrary: A few years back I got done for speeding in my Morgan +8 by an Austrian cop who visually estimated my speed. To be clear: he had no radar/laser/vascar equipment in his car when he was parked by the side of the road near the Reschenpass. Austria is the only EU country where this is possible.

BTW: most European countries have laws against after-market HIDs. The UK is very tolerant in this respect. The way to avoid collecting an "HID ticket" is to point out to the copper that one's bike has passed a UK MOT and consequently is road-legal in the whole of the EU - and to refuse to pay any fine. Take your MOT certificate with you to shut up the EU/Austrian bureaucrats.

HTH,
Achim

well wrong and right in the same post ;-)

coppers here can estimate your speed, I have done it, ie known distance between two points such as lamposts, two roundabouts etc etc, then you time how long a vehicle takes to cover distance the rest is maths, now you would not try and do it for a 31/32 ect in a 30 but it is perfectly acceptable for say 40 or more in a 30.

With regard to the MOT that is correct EU legislation states that if the vehicle is road legal in the country in which it is registered then it is legal to drive in any other EU states, so by the letter of the law HID's are NOT against the law in the UK as there is no legislation to cover them, now you could get a ticket here and a court would decide but there is NO specific reference to them for or against in the relevent traffic law, the post by Greg is JUST interpretation by one government agency but it is NOT legal legislation.

However its up to you if you want to risk an argument on the street in a forigen country over EU legislation. I know that I might but then I have more experience as a copper then again I may well not and just pay the fine and make a fuss afterward. Just because you are right dont always help, as nobdy likes a smart arse, especially coppers.

 

[stolzy]

However its up to you if you want to risk an argument on the street in a forigen country over EU legislation. I know that I might but then I have more experience as a copper then again I may well not and just pay the fine and make a fuss afterward. Just because you are right dont always help, as nobdy likes a smart arse, especially coppers.

In many/most European countries this is your only option, if you want to continue your journey

 

[Gardham67]

Me and a friend got stopped in a tiny village in Italy. They went over the bikes with a fine tooth comb and said we had illegal pipes and wanted €500 euros cash each I think it was. I produced the MOT and told him they were legal in the UK and if he still wanted to fine us we would go to the police station and fill out the paperwork and get a receipt. He still wasn't happy so I produced my get out of jail free card and he then let us go. They were just out for some cash in their pocket. So corrupt it's unbelievable


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Timolgra]

as nobdy likes a smart arse, especially coppers.

How true

 

[BillWright]

If you were riding in UK, an nasty police man could do the same thing to you, though with less cost.

If you had Spots on with dipped headlights: Illegal.

If you had foglights on with dipped headlights, and visbility is over 200 metres: Illegal.

Ok, The fine is less, but a nasty policeman anywhere can find something to do you for.

Myke

The law relating to foglights is only for cars, and motorcycles are not included if i recall correctly.

 

[RedRick Esq.]

Many audis will have hids as standard or as a factory option - surely they can't knick you for having factory fitted hids?

I could be wrong here but a car manufacturer that fits HID as standard or as an option to a new car must include or have fitted a headlamp wash system. It follows that if you upgrade your headlights to stay legal you must do the same or as in my case have a pre existing headlamp wash system

 

[Reggie P]

I felt sympathy for the guys fined.

But ...after having peek at the manufacturer's site, it seems these lights are not available as a manufacturer approved option.
( for some odd reason I always thought they were available/approved from BMW)

So , if you fit them as aftermarket parts, this is always going to be a risk, in a similar way to fitting a loud (non manufacturer can?)

 

[RedRick Esq.]

well wrong and right in the same post ;-)

coppers here can estimate your speed, I have done it, ie known distance between two points such as lamposts, two roundabouts etc etc, then you time how long a vehicle takes to cover distance the rest is maths, now you would not try and do it for a 31/32 ect in a 30 but it is perfectly acceptable for say 40 or more in a 30.

.

I once saw a a cop in court testify that his estimate of speed was reliable and that should be good enough for prosecution. A barrister threw a pencil accros the court and asked the cop how fast it was going !

Case dismissed

 

[younger06]

I once saw a a cop in court testify that his estimate of speed was reliable and that should be good enough for prosecution. A barrister threw a pencil accros the court and asked the cop how fast it was going !

Case dismissed

Ah......the old ones are the best!