Since Chris mentioned the GPS update I wanted to mention something I read in the recent issue of Travel and Leisure – the June 2010 issue. It said that a lot of tourists are getting tickets throughout Europe – speeding tickets, red light running tickets and even tickets for not having the special permit to drive in that town (it mentions Central London for the permit). There is a lot of talk about if this is in fact a scam or not – many unknowing tourists are getting letters in the mail several months after their vacations saying they owe a fine on a ticket. With rental car companies in the middle that mixes things up a bit, too. How are you going to remember exactly where and when you were in a specific intersection several months ago? I can see where this could definitely be a scam – either by the government issuing the fine or even by the rental car company.
I know I wouldn’t remember where we were! On our road trip last summer we were always checking our email and our bank sends us an email every time we buy something with our debit card. Somewhere around week two of our four week trip we got an email saying we had spend $400 at a skateboard shop in Germany. We were trying to figure out if it was a place we had visited along our trip that was based in Germany and with lots of thinking we just couldn’t figure it out. How could we forget a $400 purchase?? We went over and over and finally we decided to call and find out more information. It turns out that somewhere on the trip someone got our credit card number and ordered the stuff – and we hadn’t been the one buying it. We did get our money back, too. Thanks, PayPal!
One GPS that has a map of traffic camera locations all over Europe (except Germany since they are outlawed there) is the Garmin Nuvi 255W GPS for $180. If you happen to own this GPS, let us know how it is!