Traffic Fines in Montenegro

Fines

Fines in Montenegro vary.. Usually, the fine is minimal. In serious circumstances, the fine can increase. This depends on factors such as the driver’s attitude towards the officers, repeated or gross violations etc. At the very end of the article, we will discuss how to avoid confrontation with the police during such an encounter.

Speeding ticket in Montenegro

The fines below are taken from Montenegro traffic law (download in Serbian, PDF, 828 Kb), effective from January 2013. How much is a speeding fine in montenegro?

€30–80

  • speeding up to 10km/h over the existing limit outside populated communities,
  • non-use of dim lights during the day,

€40–100

  • speeding up to 10 km/h within populated communities and up to 10-30 km/h outside,
  • non-use of safety belts when they are available by design (including passengers),
  • transportation of children up to 5 y. o. without a child seat,
  • missed turn lights.

€60–150

  • speeding up to 10-20 km/h within populated communities and up to 30-40 km/h outside,
  • phone calls or texting while driving,
  • transportation of children up to 12 y. o. or intoxicated persons at the front seat. All children up to 5 y. o. should sit in appropriate car seats during transportation. Only children up to 3 y. o. can be transported at the front seat in the appropriate car seat
  • prohibited maneuvers,
  • riding a motorcycle/scooter without a helmet (for both driver and passenger),
  • jaywalking,
  • lack of technical passport or registration plates (if valid vehicle registration is available).

non-use of winter gear during winter season (November 15 to March 30). If the road is covered in snow or ice, the fine increases to €80–300.

Winter gear: M+S winter tires on traction wheels, snow chains of corresponding sizes, the tread depth should be no less than 4 mm on all wheels.

€70–200

  • speeding up to 20-30 km/h within populated communities and up to 40-50 km/h outside of these zones,
  • 3–0.5 per mille of blood alcohol. Montenegrin laws allow alcohol levels up to 0.3 per mille for drivers.
  • driving outside designated areas (i. e. across lawns, pavements etc.),
  • wrong-way driving on one-ways,
  • parking in restricted areas (including violation of paid parking rules).

€80–300

  • transportation of passengers in quantities exceeding the intended capacity of the vehicle,
  • non-use of winter gear during winter season (November 15 to March 30) while driving on snow or ice.

€100–450

  • speeding up to 30-50 km/h within populated communities and up to 50-70 km/h outside of these zones,
  • most traffic violations involving improper passing,
  • not giving way to a pedestrian on a crossing (including pedestrians showing an intent to cross),
  • traffic light violations: crossing on red and yellow. Moving on yellow is possible only to avoid rapid braking and/or incident.
  • violation of priority,
  • driving a non-registered vehicle or a vehicle with expired registration.

€150–1,000

  • speeding up to 50-70 km/h within populated communities and up to 70-90 km/h outside,
  • use (including possession, sale and advertising) of radar detectors and other disruptive equipment.
  • prohibited driving on the opposite lane,
  • risky driving that threatens other vehicles passing or overtaking,
  • lack of valid Montenegrin or international/foreign driving license (see note above),
  • continued movement after police officer’s order to stop.

€300–2,000, prison sentence of up to 60 days

  • speeding over 70 km/h within populated communities and over 90 km/h outside,
  • 5+ per mille of blood alcohol,
  • refusal of blood alcohol or an alternative intoxication test.

Traffic Fine Procedure for Foreigners

What happens when police officers stop you? They introduce themselves and ask for your papers. Usually, it is sufficient to produce a driver’s license (‘vozačka dozvola’), vehicle registration documents (blue plastic card) and the rental agreement. The officer informs you of the violation and asks you to follow into the police car.There the officer writes a ticket for your violation and registers your papers which are held in custody until the fine is paid: driving license and technical passport. Usually officers try to take your passport as well, but they have no official right to do so. Simply say that you have left your passport where you are staying eg at the hotel.

When the ticket is ready, the officer assigns a time for your hearing at the local court. For example, if you were speeding near Kolašin, your case will be heard at the Kolašin courtroom. Your own place of residence is not taken into account. As a rule, court proceeds until 11am or 12pm (noon) on weekdays. The officer submits all the papers taken from you, including a copy of the ticket, at the end of the shift, and then they are held in court until your hearing. As a rule, there is a traffic judge in each court. Regular civil court may reside in a different building or even a different town.

At the assigned time, you have to visit the traffic judge specifically. The judge considers available fine ranges and assigns the fine according to the circumstances and your behaviour (a display of regret is looked upon favorably). Then the judge issues a small notice with payment details for the bank or the post office. One violation means one notice. Another notice is issued for court expenses (‘sudski troskovi’). Usually, it is about €20. You take the notices to the nearest bank or post office (the judge may give you an idea of where to go). There, you ask for a payment form (uplatnica), one per notice. Every form has three carbon copies. You fill in the required fields by yourself. Below is an example. Please fill in only the fields shown here, unless your notice states otherwise.

When the forms are ready and the payment is done, you will receive two copies of each form. You take them to the judge and return a single copy of each form. If everything is correct, the judge returns your papers immediately. When the procedure is over, you are free to go.

Avoiding Fine Payment Issues

First of all, when the police officer takes your papers, but has not yet issued the ticket, you can ask to pay the fine on the spot. Of course, it is illegal, but the fines are lower (up to €100) if you can come to an agreement. In this case, you might pay half of the fine assigned by the officer, or even less.

Secondly, display sincere regret. Try to start a chat with the officer, be positive while answering questions. Sometimes, you can pull at the officer’s heartstrings and avoid the fine entirely. Girls are somehow best at this.

Thirdly, be extremely polite and respectful while talking to the officers and the judge. Any display of aggression or snobbishness will probably do more harm than good. Montenegrin officers are as friendly so just go with it.

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    Yes exactly, they will take your documents until you pay (seems to me more like blackmailing to admit guilt but whatever). The fine is lower on the spot (almost half). Pretending you don’t speak english as a foreigner doesn’t help much (in Serbia with smile it did help a lot!). For a minute they thought I want to bribe them, so don’t push it and just pay. Exactly like written – be polite. Not aggresive/snobby – this never works with police anywhere I think. Usually montenegro drivers blink highbeams when they see police, this was just bad luck as no cars were coming against me for a while.

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    İf you are a foreigner, you have to pay right there, not later. They have mobile POS machine in their police cars to make you pay by credit card. Or you have to pay immediately to a bank or a post Office. İf you are lucky, the pos machine connects and works then you have your discount for immediate payment. Then you can leave by signing basic documents… İf not, they capture all of your documents including car and driving licence and describe the nearest payment point. When you come back with the papers show that you have paid, you can get your documents back. They are not much polite. Yes Helping but never open any comprimise as their job needs. So do not try to make any silly unnecessary dialogue. Pay and leave as soon as possible…

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