Mrs Sonflower has just confessed to a speeding ticket in France…
I only bring this to your attention as it is the very short time it has taken to arrive in the UK. Not yet seen the paperwork myself, but it’s 45 yoyo fine for 78 kmh in a 70 kmh limit on the A16 outside Calais.
I think the dastardly deed was done on 1st October, paperwork dated 7th October and arrived at home 16th October.
Usual spiel about pay early, no extra charges etc. But she did tell me if it’s not sorted within 78 days it goes up to 180 Euro.
So be warned, 5mph can cost you 9 yoyo a mile an hour!
French logic.They spend a fortune building 120 mph class motorways with traffic conditions to match then they limit them to any random increasingly strictly enforced limit between around 40 - 80 mph obviously to protect the TGV lobby.The limits on the A25 between Lille and Calais are an even bigger joke.Look on the bright side only fines no points.
I ended up with a 10 euro fine for doing 106km in a 100 limit in Germany in the summer.
Wasn’t complaining but seemed such a piffling amount, barely worth the bother of issuing and collecting fine. My bank wanted to charge me £25 for an international bank transfer which was the only way it could be paid. Eventually sorted it for no fees through Moneycorp but it was a right faff to do it. Shame they didn’t have a surcharge for paying with a credit card via a website.
In France you have a tolerance of 5 kph up to 100 kph - so 70kph has a tolerance up to 76 kph. After 100 kph the tolerance rises to 130 kph with a tolerance up to 137 kph.
Also through this site you can pay your fine or contest - if you’re feeling lucky.
Interactive map with all the radars on.
As I travel through France a lot, I have paid them all. I have a friend who is French and asked him prior to going down the “payment” route if there was any point.
The fines increase with time, up to 450 Euro each (6 months) then after that the non-payment issue is taken up by magistrates and then miraculously changed into a “debt” If you are stopped at any time in France or have any involvement with officials, then you become liable instantly for the “debt” They can lock you up for 48 hours whilst they confiscate whatever it is you have (vehicle) to pay the “debt”
As I travel through France a lot, I have paid them all. I have a friend who is French and asked him prior to going down the “payment” route if there was any point.
The fines increase with time, up to 450 Euro each (6 months) then after that the non-payment issue is taken up by magistrates and then miraculously changed into a “debt” If you are stopped at any time in France or have any involvement with officials, then you become liable instantly for the “debt” They can lock you up for 48 hours whilst they confiscate whatever it is you have (vehicle) to pay the “debt”
Isn`t freedom a wonderful concept.
I think…
France has to be the country that tops the list when it comes to catching speeders. In all the years I was over the water, France stood out as the place where you’d more than likely get caught.
The Gendarmerie were tenacious in their pursuit of speeding drivers. Usual place to hide were just before peages and as you drive out from the payment booth, they’d appear and ask you to pull over and pay them lots of money. The rare but highly effective ‘double trap’ was the most devious of their methods. This involved a speed trap followed by another speed trap another kilometre further on. The theory being that motorists will naturally return to the higher speeds thinking they’d thwarted the cops only to be snared in the second speed trap. It’s a highly effective method and I’ve seen cars being queued up to get fined in these double traps.
yourhavingalarf:
France has to be the country that tops the list when it comes to catching speeders. In all the years I was over the water, France stood out as the place where you’d more than likely get caught.
The Gendarmerie were tenacious in their pursuit of speeding drivers. Usual place to hide were just before peages and as you drive out from the payment booth, they’d appear and ask you to pull over and pay them lots of money. The rare but highly effective ‘double trap’ was the most devious of their methods. This involved a speed trap followed by another speed trap another kilometre further on. The theory being that motorists will naturally return to the higher speeds thinking they’d thwarted the cops only to be snared in the second speed trap. It’s a highly effective method and I’ve seen cars being queued up to get fined in these double traps.
Only after around early 2000’s.Before that French motorways and RN’s were a case of the limit being treated by all concerned as only advisory with plenty of absolute ■■■■ taking going on in that regard.Like often ( rightly ) faster general speeds on Autoroutes than unlimited autobahns and 85 mph + cars and 65 mph trucks general regime on RN’s.I know that from the difficulty of overtaking usually quick moving trucks with a rhd car on RN’s.
In the unlikely even of a nick ( mainly by motorbikes because they had no fast patrol cars and no way of enforcing any type of retrospective remote type of nick across borders from just number plates ) the law were happy to barter regards the ‘actual’ recorded speed v an ‘agreed’ speed.Happy days.
Although ironically the last time I was over there Summer 2018 the trucks were setting off their blinding cameras like Christmas lights at night especially the N79.With an obviously ‘relaxed’ idea of limiter calibration often nearer to 60 mph than 56 mph.So nothing much changed in that regard even after the stupid further reduction in the RN limit.
