BERN, SWITZERLAND – Tourists who are tempted to drive across Switzerland on the faster roads without the sticker might want to reconsider. It will cost you double, with the fine jumping from CHF100 to 200. Swiss motorists beware: you have until 31 January to make sure the sticker is on your vehicles.
The cost of the sticker remains CHF40 for the 2012. It can be used starting 1 December and is valid until 31 January 2013. The old 2011 sticker is valid until 31 January 2012.
The highway department warns drivers they must remove their old stickers to make it easier to see the new one. The sticker has to be placed on the windscreen, on the inside of the car, near the edge of the windscreen; stickers not correctly placed can prompt a fine this year.
The stickers serve as a sign you’ve paid the Swiss road tax, which replaces the tolls in some neighbouring countries.
They are available at customs agencies, petrol stations, post offices, highway department offices and garages.
Outer and inner faces of the 2010 Swiss autoroute sticker
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Drivers have until the end of January 2010 to put them on their cars, but the 2010 Swiss autoroute sticker, called a vignette in French, goes on sale today. The background is metallic orange and the date reddish-brown. The CHF40 annual road tax has been sold at the same price since it became law in 1985, managed by the Swiss customs office.
The proof of tax paid sticker must be displayed by cars but also trucks and motorbikes on the autoroute.
