Do not forget to pack a vignette on your holiday

“Ideally, drivers should buy the e-vignette at least a couple of days ahead. This way they will be sure that everything went well and, if necessary, they can easily correct mistakes”, recommends the Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček.

Even after a half year, most people still buy the e-vignette online. “The purchase is easy. They simply need to enter a number plate and an e-mail address. If someone wants to pay via a bank order, they must be aware that the e-vignette will be valid not sooner than in 5 days after the payment”, said Martin Opatrný, the spokesperson of CENDIS, the operator of the e-vignette system.

Some drivers try to avoid the system. They ride out on a charged road without an e-vignette and proceed to buy it only after they spot a police car or Customs Administration car.

“This way is naïve. In most cases, the police uses footage from toll cameras so the drivers cannot spot the patrol unit. The system also registers the exact time of purchase. Our patrols can easily assess, whether the driver bought the e-vignette prior to riding out on the charged road or not”, pointed out Col. Michal Hodboď from the Police of the Czech Republic.

The same applies when drivers claim they wanted to buy the e-vignette on EuroOil petrol stations, if those are located on charged roads. Such claims are also useless.

In most cases, the drivers claim they are driving a company or rented car. However, even in these cases the driver is responsible for driving with a valid e-vignette, not the car owner.