Posted by gweiss, Sat Jan 05 08:03:00 UTC 2008

So if you haven't heard the story, the morning we left Switzerland this summer, we had to make the long trek from Lugano to Geneva the even longer way due to incredible flooding that had occurred throughout the country. Seeing how we had a plane to catch, I kicked in the afterburners, but knowing the Swiss and their aversion to even the most mild forms of law-bending, I only kicked it in a little.

It happens that because I'm a generally honest guy, I didn't use the UM-rented car to take my family to Lugano for the weekend, but instead rented my own (which was hugely expensive, as was the whole weekend--but that's another story). Bad move, because I was caught by robo-radar going about 20km/hr over the speed limit through the Goddhardt tunnel, and the Swiss police tracked me down back home and mailed me the ticket. All told, with fees and wire transfer costs, it ran about $400--all for going about 12mph over. And I had to pay it, because Geneva's a regular stop now and they actually follow up on this stuff in Switzerland. Naturally, everyone teased me, because if I had used the UM car it's entirely likely no one would have been the wiser.

Well, this morning, I came across this story. Snip:

Switzerland is introducing speed cameras on the slopes to try to reduce the increasing number of accidents. The first such nationwide controls will treat skiers like cars on the motorway. Speeders will be caught with hand-held radar devices carried by hidden personnel.

What, are you kidding me? So let me just say this: if I ski while I'm there next time, I'll be using UM-rented skis ...!

Filed Under: In the news Personal | Tags: Geneva geneva