Company cars: who is liable for fines?
Company cars: who is liable for fines?
"I have received a "notice to the keeper" for our French company's car for exceeding the speed limit by more than 15km/h when it was limited to 40km/h. The offence was recorded in November 2007. The offence was recorded in November 2007, so isn't it time-barred? If the driver lives in France, what are the risks?
Jean, France
In Geneva, the Code of Penal Procedure governs the criminal procedure for tickets, i.e. offences punishable by a fine. The fines department has sent you a "notice to the keeper" so that we can determine who was driving the vehicle and send the fine to the driver. The amount of the fine will depend on the circumstances.
Under article 9A of the Federal Road Traffic Enforcement Act, in the event of an offence under the Road Traffic Act committed with a vehicle registered in the name of a legal entity or registered under the address of a sole proprietorship, the owner of the vehicle is obliged to inform the police of the identity of the driver or to name the person to whom the vehicle has been entrusted. If the keeper is a legal entity, in particular a public limited company, the obligation to inform lies with the company's director. Where there is more than one director, the duty to inform lies with the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Under art. 109 of the Criminal Code, offences are subject to a three-year statute of limitations, so the Offences Department acted in good time in your case.
In addition to the fine, there is also an administrative procedure. The police will report the offence to the Office cantonal des automobiles et de la navigation (OCAN), which may take administrative measures such as withdrawing your driving licence. In practice, and in the absence of any previous record, exceeding the speed limit by 15km/h in a locality is a minor offence which will be dealt with by a warning in application of art. 16a of the LCR.
It should be noted that if you have a French driving licence, the Swiss authorities do not have the power to withdraw your licence. Instead of withdrawing your licence, the Swiss authorities would issue a ban on driving in Switzerland and could, at the same time, take steps to inform the relevant department in France.
