89Kph over the limit in France....
Discussion
Sealine South said:
A client of mine was caught doing 280km/h in his 458 near Monaco. €750 fine, car impounded for 12 months loads of aggro and finally a €14,000 bill from Ferrari Cannes for recommissioning after it was released. Apparently they treated it like s
t when it was "impounded"! Ouch!
A friend of mine had exactly the same thing happening to him a few years ago.t when it was "impounded"! Ouch!On his way to Italy, he was caught speeding in France doing 240km/h. His Ferrari F430 was impounded and he only got it back 7 months later. Apart from the fine, he also had to pay for storage (€8/day). Not only was his car incredibly dirty (to be expected) but it had 2 flat tyres and a few dents and scratches. The same story on the inside : the interior looked like it had been used as a shelter for the homeless as it was again very dirty and smelled horribly and was full of candy bar wrappers.
On the run down to Paris there used to be an old grey Pug 306 that crept along the motorways, The guy that sat in the back held a camera on the parcel shelf, the flash gun was aimed at the motorist and actually flashed quite brightly, surely thats more dangerous than going slightly over the speed limit.
I got caught driving through Belgium at over 190kph by a very very angry copper.He had been following me at those speeds for over 10kms with his lights and woowooos on,didn't see him as it was bucketing it down and i couldn't hear as the radio was on, this made him even more angry, i got off lightly with a £200 fine.
I got caught driving through Belgium at over 190kph by a very very angry copper.He had been following me at those speeds for over 10kms with his lights and woowooos on,didn't see him as it was bucketing it down and i couldn't hear as the radio was on, this made him even more angry, i got off lightly with a £200 fine.
wisbech said:
Heh, what % of performance cars are actually bought for performance vs 'look at me'? Very low I would have thought, here in HK performance cars are two a penny, with a 110 km speed limit strictly enforced...
same in Singapore but only 90KPH ..... still dont know what the highway speed limit is in Thailand
Geekman said:
Vizsla said:
I think you have been lucky so far, mon ami, trust me your luck will run out eventually (mine did!).
I lived in France for 7 years and in my experience there were plenty of mobile radar traps, often cunningly hidden, on all roads from autoroutes to very minor roads. Ditto random alcohol checks, e.g. on an autoroute slip road.
Seen several occasions where the poulets were sat in their car on the autoroute hard shoulder with the hairdryer pointed out of the window, and when a suitably swift 'client' came along they would step out into the carriageway and flag the offending vehicle down onto the hard shoulder - imagine that happening in the UK
Perhaps, but if my luck were to run out and I was caught at 100MPH, they'd just take me to the cashpoint, I'd give them some euros and be on my way. Obviously, getting caught at higher speeds than that will cause more problems, hence why I rarely do over 100. Either way though, the consequences are far less severe than in the UK.I lived in France for 7 years and in my experience there were plenty of mobile radar traps, often cunningly hidden, on all roads from autoroutes to very minor roads. Ditto random alcohol checks, e.g. on an autoroute slip road.
Seen several occasions where the poulets were sat in their car on the autoroute hard shoulder with the hairdryer pointed out of the window, and when a suitably swift 'client' came along they would step out into the carriageway and flag the offending vehicle down onto the hard shoulder - imagine that happening in the UK
The 'advantage' in the 'severity' of the 'consequences' up to 100 mph really being nothing better than the fact that it is just a fine not points.It would/will be that issue which would/will be the final nail in the case of driving anything that's quick in France.Being that it takes a Saint to hold back anything that's even remotely quick on those roads to even 100 mph max let alone 80 mph.
XJSJohn said:
wisbech said:
Heh, what % of performance cars are actually bought for performance vs 'look at me'? Very low I would have thought, here in HK performance cars are two a penny, with a 110 km speed limit strictly enforced...
same in Singapore but only 90KPH ..... still dont know what the highway speed limit is in Thailand
XJ Flyer said:
The problem being that even 100 mph on a clear dry French autoroute is as bad as 80 mph when a sustained 120 mph + has always been a reasonable pace on those roads.
The 'advantage' in the 'severity' of the 'consequences' up to 100 mph really being nothing better than the fact that it is just a fine not points.It would/will be that issue which would/will be the final nail in the case of driving anything that's quick in France.Being that it takes a Saint to hold back anything that's even remotely quick on those roads to even 100 mph max let alone 80 mph.
For over 100MPH in England, it would be unlikely to be just points though, particularly if you were well over 100MPH. In the grand scheme of things, you're still miles better off speeding in France.The 'advantage' in the 'severity' of the 'consequences' up to 100 mph really being nothing better than the fact that it is just a fine not points.It would/will be that issue which would/will be the final nail in the case of driving anything that's quick in France.Being that it takes a Saint to hold back anything that's even remotely quick on those roads to even 100 mph max let alone 80 mph.
I also think that keeping up much more than 100MPH over a long distance is just too much of a pain. There's been a few times where I've done 140-150 for a decent stretch, and as exhilarating as it is, you have to stop for fuel what feels like every 10 miles, you have to make sure you're 100% on the ball 100% of the time, and it places a huge amount of wear on the brakes as you have to be on them pretty hard as soon as you see anything. Yes, you can make up a lot of time at night, but most of the stretches are unlit/poorly lit, so you're taking a big risk.
Even without enforcement, I'd probably just do those sorts of speeds at short bursts, more for fun than anything else. Most of the time I'd stick to 100 or slightly less, which is what I do anyway.
gtidriver said:
On the run down to Paris there used to be an old grey Pug 306 that crept along the motorways, The guy that sat in the back held a camera on the parcel shelf, the flash gun was aimed at the motorist and actually flashed quite brightly, surely thats more dangerous than going slightly over the speed limit.
I got caught driving through Belgium at over 190kph by a very very angry copper.He had been following me at those speeds for over 10kms with his lights and woowooos on,didn't see him as it was bucketing it down and i couldn't hear as the radio was on, this made him even more angry, i got off lightly with a £200 fine.
TBH mate if you've doing that sort of speed when it's "bucketing it down" you deserve a good wallet rapingI got caught driving through Belgium at over 190kph by a very very angry copper.He had been following me at those speeds for over 10kms with his lights and woowooos on,didn't see him as it was bucketing it down and i couldn't hear as the radio was on, this made him even more angry, i got off lightly with a £200 fine.
irocfan, i think i got away with that quite lightly, there was lots of shouting and arms waving from the police officer, i was expecting them to take the car to be honest. I think now the police would give me a ban for that, i drive a lot slower on the continent than i use to, normally just stick the cruise on at about 80mph and enjoy the drive.
Geekman said:
For over 100MPH in England, it would be unlikely to be just points though, particularly if you were well over 100MPH. In the grand scheme of things, you're still miles better off speeding in France.
I also think that keeping up much more than 100MPH over a long distance is just too much of a pain. There's been a few times where I've done 140-150 for a decent stretch, and as exhilarating as it is, you have to stop for fuel what feels like every 10 miles, you have to make sure you're 100% on the ball 100% of the time, and it places a huge amount of wear on the brakes as you have to be on them pretty hard as soon as you see anything. Yes, you can make up a lot of time at night, but most of the stretches are unlit/poorly lit, so you're taking a big risk.
Even without enforcement, I'd probably just do those sorts of speeds at short bursts, more for fun than anything else. Most of the time I'd stick to 100 or slightly less, which is what I do anyway.
I just come back from Sainte Maxime off my annual soirée and got hit for 90 euros, clocked at 161 kph. Tbh I was happy with that and the response from le rozzeurs, "we will take 90e from you, give you a receipt and you will continue your journeyI also think that keeping up much more than 100MPH over a long distance is just too much of a pain. There's been a few times where I've done 140-150 for a decent stretch, and as exhilarating as it is, you have to stop for fuel what feels like every 10 miles, you have to make sure you're 100% on the ball 100% of the time, and it places a huge amount of wear on the brakes as you have to be on them pretty hard as soon as you see anything. Yes, you can make up a lot of time at night, but most of the stretches are unlit/poorly lit, so you're taking a big risk.
Even without enforcement, I'd probably just do those sorts of speeds at short bursts, more for fun than anything else. Most of the time I'd stick to 100 or slightly less, which is what I do anyway.
At 130kph, nice car by the way". Very civil way of being relieved of cash with none of the lectures on killing little bunny rabbits.
My biggest fear was the fact that as I came back from the services cashpoint they were still in comms with whoever on their radios. Checking out my two flashes at 130 plus on the way down? Seems not.
Agree with you Matt, very easy to get your toe down at night but the headlights in the XKR couldn't keep up and anything more than 130, 160 was positively scary in the darkness, though not as scary as the 16mpg from Calais to St Trops
In France in particular, there is usually no need to exceed the (more pragmatic) motorway speed limits. to make good progress. The 80mph dry road limit and absence of other traffic for a lot of the time, means very large distances can be traveled without exceeding the limit. this can be helped still further by using a toll tag for the peage`s. In the same way large ships can cover huge distances in a day because they are able to travel for hour after hour at a constant speed, very long distances in a day are easily achieved on French motorways.
France is a bigger country (>2 x UK) with a similar population to the UK. I always assumed that to facilitate travelling around that the authorities turned a blind eye to making progress. I guess with the developments of the TGV and the rise of the ecomentalists that that attitude is changing.
Must be down to how you come across to the officer that gets you. A friend and I were both pulled for doing over 100 and the French officers seemed very relaxed and friendly. I know they took our licenses and fined us 90 euro each which after hearing 750 above seems very light. But they just told us to be more mindful of the limit and off we went, one of them even told us we could drive as fast as we like as long as not in France.
Pan Pan said:
In France in particular, there is usually no need to exceed the (more pragmatic) motorway speed limits. to make good progress. The 80mph dry road limit and absence of other traffic for a lot of the time, means very large distances can be traveled without exceeding the limit. this can be helped still further by using a toll tag for the peage`s. In the same way large ships can cover huge distances in a day because they are able to travel for hour after hour at a constant speed, very long distances in a day are easily achieved on French motorways.
The difference being that ships are driven by crews working shifts while others sleep.Like America trans Continental distances covered at UK type speeds are a good way of falling asleep at the wheel.The fact is in good conditions with typical French traffic levels the French autoroute speed limit and its present draconian enforcement is a joke.The most likely reason for that change in enforcement over previous times being protection of the fast rail interests and some money for the government in fines as a bonus.speedking31 said:
France is a bigger country (>2 x UK) with a similar population to the UK. I always assumed that to facilitate travelling around that the authorities turned a blind eye to making progress. I guess with the developments of the TGV and the rise of the ecomentalists that that attitude is changing.
Anyone who is familiar with 'how it was' would say that is spot on.speedking31 said:
France is a bigger country (>2 x UK) with a similar population to the UK. I always assumed that to facilitate travelling around that the authorities turned a blind eye to making progress. I guess with the developments of the TGV and the rise of the ecomentalists that that attitude is changing.
No, it's because they realised something had to be done to reduce the shockingly high level of road deaths in France. Hence the clampdown on speeding and drink driving during the past 5-10 years.braddo said:
speedking31 said:
France is a bigger country (>2 x UK) with a similar population to the UK. I always assumed that to facilitate travelling around that the authorities turned a blind eye to making progress. I guess with the developments of the TGV and the rise of the ecomentalists that that attitude is changing.
No, it's because they realised something had to be done to reduce the shockingly high level of road deaths in France. Hence the clampdown on speeding and drink driving during the past 5-10 years.HaylingJag said:
I just come back from Sainte Maxime off my annual soirée and got hit for 90 euros, clocked at 161 kph. Tbh I was happy with that and the response from le rozzeurs, "we will take 90e from you, give you a receipt and you will continue your journey
At 130kph, nice car by the way". Very civil way of being relieved of cash with none of the lectures on killing little bunny rabbits.
My biggest fear was the fact that as I came back from the services cashpoint they were still in comms with whoever on their radios. Checking out my two flashes at 130 plus on the way down? Seems not.
Agree with you Matt, very easy to get your toe down at night but the headlights in the XKR couldn't keep up and anything more than 130, 160 was positively scary in the darkness, though not as scary as the 16mpg from Calais to St Trops
Funny you should mention the MPG - this morning I had a meeting in Nice and massively overslept, ended up with an impressive 12MPG from a 3.0 V6. I'm blaming those steep hills on the autoroute.... At 130kph, nice car by the way". Very civil way of being relieved of cash with none of the lectures on killing little bunny rabbits.
My biggest fear was the fact that as I came back from the services cashpoint they were still in comms with whoever on their radios. Checking out my two flashes at 130 plus on the way down? Seems not.
Agree with you Matt, very easy to get your toe down at night but the headlights in the XKR couldn't keep up and anything more than 130, 160 was positively scary in the darkness, though not as scary as the 16mpg from Calais to St Trops
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