Tarmaceater:
I got pulled or got a tug by the much feared and dreaded Basque police or the red hats , as Luke said , your heart does sink when the law approaches you , well anyway, he checks my tachos and said it was impossible to get from Cherbourg to Victoria in so many hours as the police man does the same trip in his wobbly box or caravan, no fine though as I’m so good looking like a film star .
Mosses commercial vehicle enforcement( Catalan area of Spain) and the Basque are renowned for telephone number sized court deposits , of which you have the legal right to contest by appearing in court but no foreign drivers bother with due to time off work and legal costs if you lose .
I used to run European with no international permit and had no operating license but to get over that , I would have a bag of broken glass to throw in the passenger seat area when I got a tug .
When the old bill asked for the paperwork, I would say it has been stolen by someone who broke in and smashed the window, without the paperwork they couldn’t detain me and fine me , as the money to pay the fine was “stolen “ , after an hour of arguing and shouting they always gave in and let me go with no fine .
I used to be use a bamboo stick with a mug attached to the end to pay for the tolls , to save getting out the cab in a RHD truck, the mug had a crocodile clip with the toll entry ticket attached to it and the toll staff would put my change in the mug .
And the policeman always wondered how you had managed to replace the broken glass with no money and to get exactly the same date of manufacture etched into the glass. 