Ticket in Turkey! WTF?!

[Tybalt]

So... just so you know...the legal limit for motorcycles, regarless of size is 77km/h yea ****ing CRAWLING! I just got a ticket for going 91 (also ****ing crawling) but the cops wouldn't let me off for all the gold in persia (ok maybe they would have but they wouldnt let me talk my way out of it...but they would shake my hand and say "Obama, Obama" while handing me the 115 lira ($75) ticket!

BOO!

Any reccommendaitons on paying it or not? I plan to come back to turkey...but I gave them the wrong info for me, but they got my licence plate number.

Still in shock!

[markharf]

Could you say more about where you were, what sort of road, within town or not, etc.? Did these police speak English? Is it possible you were within a village or city of some sort, and they were telling you the speed limit once you passed a wee little sign with the town's name on it? This happened to me in Ukraine, and although the police definitely told me (in very fractured English) that the speed limit was always 60 for motorcycles, what they really meant was within towns and cities. It took quite a while to figure this out, though.

I road through parts of Turkey a few weeks ago, passing multiple speedtraps on all sorts of roadways without incident, and I sure wasn't keeping to any 77kph. However, it's hard to keep tabs on all those little signs indicating you're entering a village, and I had some narrow misses on that score.

As far as paying the ticket: did they run a check by radio or mobile phone on your ID or tab number? If not, they probably won't next time (!) either, which suggests not paying. To me, at least. Most places, when they really want you to pay they make sure you do it then and there—either directly, or in the next town while they hold your paperwork.

Big country, Turkey, even at 100+. My condolences and best wishes for speedy, worry-free riding!

Mark

[pecha72]

The first time I hear there´s a 77km/h limit for motorbikes. Is there? I believe there are people here, who live in Turkey, and they will probably know this.

I also crossed the entire country from Dikili (north of Izmir) to Kayseri to Dogubayazit, over 2200kms, and usually rode 110-130 kms per hour, and didnt get stopped even once by the police, only by the military, at some checkpoints.

[usl]

The legal limits are for urban-rural-highways ... 50-70-80 km/hr ... respectively ....

Yes, unfortunately but legaly, these are the limits ...

Mostly police doesnt apply this, cause its really unreasonable, but instead limits for cars ... which is 50-90-120 km/hr

So i guess "tybalt" was just a bit unlucky ...

[ozhanu]

hi tim,

hope you are ok. where about Turkiye are you at the moment?
about the speed limits, i am totaly agree with usl. if you check the following links:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/cou...y/#SpeedLimits
offical link:
Trafik Denetleme Þube Müdürlüðü

you will see that the speed limits are ridiculus but true.

about paying the bill.. if i were you (a foreing person with a foreign number plated bike) i wouldn't pay the bill.

see you in january.

have fun
ozhan u.

[Tybalt]

I was just outside of Fethiye - (now I'm in Antalya). They spoke pretty broken english but yea they made it pretty clear that it was a national speed limit (as has been confirmed). Guess I'm just unlucky.

oh well. I think I may let this one pass without paying it. I have a month and I'll be out of the country after a month and they didn't get my personal info correct so I don't think Ill have any trouble coming back...we shall see.

just a shame - to all future riders...WATCH OUT!

BTW anyone know if there are any ferry lines between Israel and Turkey for bikes?

[ozhanu]

hi tim,

enjoy antalya first of all. about your ferry question, chech link out:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...t=israel+ferry

hope this helps
ozhan u.

[markharf]

I checked elsewhere and confirmed that speed limits are, in fact, ridiculous for bikes in Turkey. I'm just glad I didn't know this a couple of weeks ago; it would have caused me undue stress while whizzing along at a relatively healthy clip.

Again: big country, Turkey. Bigger still at 70 and 80 kph.

enjoy,

Mark

[xrnik]

Hello, I ve just returned fromTurkey. I had a similar problem, speeding on 91 km/h while the cop told me, better wrote me down, the limit was 80km/h. He just said gule gule, and left. Near to Ephesus. The guys from Turkey would know better if you will have a problem while exiting/entering the country, but I assume that you wont have. My opinion about the limits is that if you go fast you dont see anything. Ofcourse for us that we are tourists. For local people is another issue...

[steveindenmark]

They have the wrong bike reg and not your details.

I would use it to go in my album but i wouldn`t pay it first.

Steve

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Tybalt

I just got a ticket for going 91 ... while handing me the 115 lira ($75) ticket!

Snap -- I was caught doing 91 last week and fined 115lira too. At least this proves their speed guns are consistant. Or all fixed at 91.

This was a very quiet "main road".. these things are relative.. in a rural stretch of Thraki/ European Turkey heading up towards Vize and then the Bulgarian border.

I saw the sign saying 'Radar'.. even checked my speed, which I'd have said was 80-85, and thought.. "Even if there is a speed trap here today (which is unlikely, as it's just me and a couple of tractors out on the road) I'll be fine a little over the limit.."

Famous last words.

The cops were friendly. Apologetic, even. But they weren't going to let me off for riding so much over the limit which, I learned the hard way, is indeed 70kmph.

[Brian and Marie]

Got nailed today on the E80 (main highway running east/west) just outside of Amasya on the way to Erzurum. I had read the above posts a few weeks ago and was being as careful as possible with regards to police cars, radar (they have signs indicating where the radar is), towns, etc.

My understanding was that the E80 was a major highway (it is) therefore 88km/h was OK. On a particularly desolate stretch (no houses, no buildings, nothing but road) I was going about 100km/h. Keep in mind that at this speed we were getting passed by cars doing 120 to 140 on a regular basis. Sure enough coming around a bend a cop was standing in the road indicating that I should pull over. In total, there were 3 police officers (at first). I knew I was speeding so I was expecting to at worst be given a 115 lira ticket and at best be let go with a warning. Helmets off, papers out and immediatly the officer in the car starts writing out a ticket. We ask how much. He writes on a piece of paper (no english whatsover) 265 Lira!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost had a heart attack. He indicates my speed (103) to which I nod as in "yes, I was going that fast". He then indicates that the limit is 78km/h. At this point Marie takes over with the officer in charge very eloquently pleading ignorance using sign language. The officer thinks she is contesting our speed so he makes a call and moments later I am summoned to an unmarked car that has just arrived and am shown IMAX quality video of us coming around a bend with 103km/h lit up on the screen. He then shows me a speed limit chart (looks official) which says 78km/h for bikes to which I indicate that I understand.

After a few moments one of the officers opens my passport to the Turkey entry page and puts a pen to it at which point I ask if he can bring the price down. He says if we pay now it will cost 199 lira and if we pay later it will be 265 lira. Not wanting to set a bad Latin America type standard I hesitate for a fraction of a second and the pen immediatly goes back onto the passport so I quickly agree to pay now. My first thought is that these 4 officers will be able to buy their wives something nice but he takes out a receipt (official with emblems and all) and fills it out in the amount of 199 lira!

I am pissed but I always told friends that if we break the law we will pay. But riding on main highways at 78 km/h is not only painfully slow it is dangerous. Needless to say the rest of the day we rolled at the supposed speed limit for this highway (78). Not sure how the cars behind us felt about this! Also, we saw numerous traps (about a dozen) from Amasya to Erzurum. Tactics are identical to Peru (outside of Lima) except here in Turkey this is sanctioned by law. Too bad for Turkey as I am sure this will leave a very sour taste among motoryclist. Certainly did for us!

At one point in all this I indicated that the 78 limit was very low to which one of the officers respond 78 OK 79 illegal as in ZERO latitude.

I have been driving for 23 years and in all of that time I have had 2 speeding tickets (the other one was 22 years ago) so driving dangerously is not a habit. Also, we were beyond polite and in full "sorry" mode throughout. The officers on the other hand (all except one) were condescending.

Long story but the moral is that now they will mark your passport to indicate a pending fine so no more crossing of borders without paying. If you got this far reading this text and are coming here do not exceed these ridiculous and dangerous limits. After what I saw today in numerous places I am convinced you will get nailed if you go anything over the limit on the E80.

Good luck!

[oldbmw]

I just got back from a trip to vsit relatives in Nice and Monaco.. Waiting for me was a speeding ticket.
Some years ago I was stopped doing 61Kph in a 50kph zone and let off with a warning. Since then I have been careful to keep sub 60Kph in the belief that was ok. It might work with cops but not machines. I was doing 57Kph corrected to 52Kph... this cost 90 euros... and worse I will have a point knocked off my licence. This will be bit of a logistical nightmare as my licence is a UK one. I think I will have to trade it for a French one to get the points knocked off

[kobold]

Try living here with that speed limit... Usually, police do not fine people from their area and those guys do not wear any helmet or any kind of protection and usually they are above the speed limits.

The Turkish Speed Limits made nearly 50-60 years ago and they haven't updated it. Motorcycles have a speed limit of 70 km/h, off-road vehicles (most SUVs belong to this category) and any kind of semi-trucks and trucks have speed limit of 80 km/h. The police are really flexible about SUV that I haven't seen any SUV fined for going over 88 km/h but they are not that flexible about motorcycles. As far as I know, they have a quota which they should control enough number of motorcycles so they usually pick the people who has big motorcycles, wearing helmets from other cities, or countries and control or fine them.

Our Motorcycle federation tried to do something about it but they are not a effective federation. As motorcycle riders in Turkey, we always talk in the our local forums about doing something about it but the result is nothing, all we do is talking. Also, There is no strong civil organization which could rally protest ride against these speed limits. (and Also, some riders agree and like these limits).

What we do is, try to negotiate (namely, bribe) if we get caught but these days it is harder because radars are also recording images or videos of the vehicles and those were checked from time to time cross-referenced with the fines so, the police are afraid of being caught. If we can see the car with the radar and if there is a side road in between the radar car and the check point, we usually take that side road and try to circumnavigate the check point. Also, we usually prefer the side roads instead of main roads because there is small chance of police being on these roads.

Also, fines are rated. If you are %10 to % 30 over the limit, the fine is 128 TL, if you are %30 and up over the limit, the fine is 265 TL. If you pay on site, there is %25 discount on the fine.

Cheers,
Ozgur

[quastdog]

Brian and Maria:
I had an almost identical experience as you a few weeks ago - 265 TL fine, and similar thoughts about traveling at 70kph (unsafe). Traffic cops didn't say anything about paying them on the spot though - so I thought I'd have to pay when exiting the country. They actually jumped into the car and drove off as soon as they handed me the ticket, so there was no discussion (I think it was lunch!)

Instead of taking my time, traveling up to Istanbul (spending 3 weeks in Turkey), I headed straight for the border of Greece. With gas at over $2.50 USD a liter, and 70kph speed limits, I had enough of Turkey, which is actually a very nice country (people), very scenic, with good roads for motorcycling.

At the border, no one asked for the money, so either
1) I escaped before the paperwork got entered into the computer?
2) maybe i only got a warning ticket?
3) maybe tickets don't really apply to foreigners?
4) the traffic police and the border police ignore each other?
5) all the above, none of the above?
6) who knows?