Le Mans and speeding

[XJ Flyer]

HoHoHo said:

I had a quick drive in my mates AM V12V last year and was driving at 80mph for about an hour.

The one moment I thought give it some, blue lights were everywhere and I was stopped at 145mph. I got a 90 euro fine and told to slow down, the car should have been taken from me and I should have been fined a lot of money.

The Policeman said quietly in front of the other 8 or 9 he'd lower the speed I got stopped at on the officla document to 168kph rather than the 169kph and above at which point serious fines etc. are in force............simply because he loved James Bond and the AM looked the dogs.....

I'm not taking my M5 this year because regardless of the fact I will try and stick to the limit, I drive in Europe frequently and the roads are just itching to be driven at warp factor gazzilion......and I know I'd be tempted just for that one second and I may not be so lucky next time!

For anyone who's familiar with 'how it used to be' that's sadly says it all.However it does confirm the fact that there's more chance of going quicker for less penalty on the autoroutes than on the much lower limit non autoroute type roads.

[XJ Flyer]

Sortie 10 said:

Whilst not in Western France, with the help of a fellow PH-er, I am challenging a penalty on behalf of a friend. He was caught on a D road for 135 in a 90 zone. Was handed an on the spot €135 fine & licence confiscation.
He has also been told to return to Eastern France for a medical at one of a panel of 10 doctors, to confirm his fitness to drive & for his licence to be returned.

This is by way of warning, he knows he was wrong etc & we are not seeking advice etc and we believe that some of the penalty was procedurally flawed for a foreigner.

As an old Peugeot ad (?) said "playtime is over"

If it's a UK licence just tell the French to do one and apply for a new licence from the DVLA saying the French have unlawfully held on to it and therefore it's effectively been lost.The fact is a motoring offence in France isn't subject to licence penalties on a UK licence.Other than that 135 euro sounds reasonable for that much over the limit.

Edited by XJ Flyer on Tuesday 10th June 18:10

[Davwlk]

Just for the record, driving in a 90 limit I was flashed at about 95 by a static camera - can't believe they're so picky

[XJ Flyer]

Davwlk said:

Just for the record, driving in a 90 limit I was flashed at about 95 by a static camera - can't believe they're so picky

That seems confusing.There's no way that a fixed ( unmanned )camera can nick a foreign reg car in addition to there being no way that licence penalties can be applied to a British licence.Having said that there are certain countries in the EU which have entered into reciprocal agreements with France whereby cross border data base access and licence penalty system seem to apply but not in our case.Which is a situation that,unfortunately,might change next year.

[Gixer]

Cruise control is your friend in France

Also, they don't just drive about in old blue vans anymore. We spotted some in some nice new shinny Renault coupes on the way back from Monaco.

[williamp]

XJ Flyer said:

That seems confusing.There's no way that a fixed ( unmanned )camera can nick a foreign reg car in addition to there being no way that licence penalties can be applied to a British licence.Having said that there are certain countries in the EU which have entered into reciprocal agreements with France whereby cross border data base access and licence penalty system seem to apply but not in our case.Which is a situation that,unfortunately,might change next year.

Luckily enough its almost unheard of for the dvla to give out/sell our data to other parties...

[Gixer]

williamp said:

XJ Flyer said:

That seems confusing.There's no way that a fixed ( unmanned )camera can nick a foreign reg car in addition to there being no way that licence penalties can be applied to a British licence.Having said that there are certain countries in the EU which have entered into reciprocal agreements with France whereby cross border data base access and licence penalty system seem to apply but not in our case.Which is a situation that,unfortunately,might change next year.

Luckily enough its almost unheard of for the dvla to give out/sell our data to other parties...

Unfortunately despite the UK originally opting out of EU countries sharing drivers data, the EU courts have ruled it unjust. So for the time being you most certainly can. Check out SPL forum.

http://driveeuropenews.com/2014/05/06/happy-birthd...

[XJ Flyer]

Gixer said:

williamp said:

XJ Flyer said:

That seems confusing.There's no way that a fixed ( unmanned )camera can nick a foreign reg car in addition to there being no way that licence penalties can be applied to a British licence.Having said that there are certain countries in the EU which have entered into reciprocal agreements with France whereby cross border data base access and licence penalty system seem to apply but not in our case.Which is a situation that,unfortunately,might change next year.

Luckily enough its almost unheard of for the dvla to give out/sell our data to other parties...

Unfortunately despite the UK originally opting out of EU countries sharing drivers data, the EU courts have ruled it unjust. So for the time being you most certainly can. Check out SPL forum.

http://driveeuropenews.com/2014/05/06/happy-birthd...

It confirms though that the UK government hasn't gone along with the ruling yet 'it's considering it's position'.Hopefully it'll be part of Cameron's much publicised plan to 're negotiate' Britain's position and halt the stated 'bossiness' of the EU.Or preferably UKIP will force him and his federalist cronies out of office anyway in which case the French etc can stuff their obvious plans for a federal licencing system.

[si_xsi]

What are the gendarmes pursuit and covert vehicle of choice these days? Still bikes? Remember the days when they 4 up in battered old Pug 306s and Renault 25s that leaned dangerously to one side, going round long bends on the autoroutes trying to keep up with faster cars, knowing they would catch speeders at the next toll.

[Gixer]

XJ Flyer said:

It confirms though that the UK government hasn't gone along with the ruling yet 'it's considering it's position'.Hopefully it'll be part of Cameron's much publicised plan to 're negotiate' Britain's position and halt the stated 'bossiness' of the EU.Or preferably UKIP will force him and his federalist cronies out of office anyway in which case the French etc can stuff their obvious plans for a federal licencing system.

Yes you're right but in the meantime, until this matter is discussed again in euro parliament, we are in as our veto has been over ruled. So for this year at least, watch out for cameras! Note I found this out after returning from a 2800 mile road trip. Now while I tend not to speed in France anymore, Italy is a whole different ball game.

[Corbeliere]

si_xsi said:

What are the gendarmes pursuit and covert vehicle of choice these days? Still bikes? Remember the days when they 4 up in battered old Pug 306s and Renault 25s that leaned dangerously to one side, going round long bends on the autoroutes trying to keep up with faster cars, knowing they would catch speeders at the next toll.

You may well see blue Gendarmery Subaru Imprezza STi's on the autoroutes now. I've seen them on the A13 and A28. The bikes are still around too.

Have a good one.

Les.

[lowdrag]

For the most part, the Imprezas have been replaced with the hot version of the Megane here at Le Mans

[Shnozz]

I do miss the old Wacky Races from the ferry port all the way down to LM, particularly from Alencon where all the ferry routes would merge on the 138 and have their last play before parking up and getting drunk for the weekend. Ah, when all that were fields..

[Gixer]

lowdrag said:

For the most part, the Imprezas have been replaced with the hot version of the Megane here at Le Mans

Yep spotted a few of their new Renaults on the way back from Monaco.

[Graham]

Shnozz said:

I do miss the old Wacky Races from the ferry port all the way down to LM, particularly from Alencon where all the ferry routes would merge on the 138 and have their last play before parking up and getting drunk for the weekend. Ah, when all that were fields..

Yep certainly glad to have experience that back in the day,,, Sadly never to be repeated these days, although it was sobering one year on the way back going past an upside down cerbera being hosed down by the pompiers...!!! silly sod missed the turn off and tried to make it at warp factor 9 and failed...



there always used to be a few mashed uk cars at the ferry terminal on recovery truck on the monday...

[Shnozz]

Graham said:

Shnozz said:

I do miss the old Wacky Races from the ferry port all the way down to LM, particularly from Alencon where all the ferry routes would merge on the 138 and have their last play before parking up and getting drunk for the weekend. Ah, when all that were fields..

Yep certainly glad to have experience that back in the day,,, Sadly never to be repeated these days, although it was sobering one year on the way back going past an upside down cerbera being hosed down by the pompiers...!!! silly sod missed the turn off and tried to make it at warp factor 9 and failed...

there always used to be a few mashed uk cars at the ferry terminal on recovery truck on the monday...

Yep, like victims of war. A few bits of gaffer tape and various battle scars was all part of the fun. Especially with the line of TVRs that would usually self-combust on the trip or just take a dislike to the temperatures some years. I remember hobbling back my old TVR S3 in 40 degree heat that meant switching off the engine at every payage booth and another year gingerly coercing my Chimaera to repatriation after a failing shock absorber. All part of the fun.

[Irish]

Shnozz said:

All part of the fun.

...of tvr ownership - I really must scratch that itch.

[Davwlk]

XJ Flyer said:

That seems confusing.There's no way that a fixed ( unmanned )camera can nick a foreign reg car in addition to there being no way that licence penalties can be applied to a British licence.Having said that there are certain countries in the EU which have entered into reciprocal agreements with France whereby cross border data base access and licence penalty system seem to apply but not in our case.Which is a situation that,unfortunately,might change next year.

English licence, Spanish car registered to a Spanish address(mine)in Alicante. I'll keep you posted.

[XJ Flyer]

Davwlk said:

XJ Flyer said:

That seems confusing.There's no way that a fixed ( unmanned )camera can nick a foreign reg car in addition to there being no way that licence penalties can be applied to a British licence.Having said that there are certain countries in the EU which have entered into reciprocal agreements with France whereby cross border data base access and licence penalty system seem to apply but not in our case.Which is a situation that,unfortunately,might change next year.

English licence, Spanish car registered to a Spanish address(mine)in Alicante. I'll keep you posted.

It could get interesting.It's my guess that at least the Spanish and the French authorities will probably say that you should apply for a Spanish licence if you're a Spanish resident.If that's the case all bets are off because Spain seems to be one of the countries that has entered into an agreement with France for cross border cooperation regarding a federal EU data base access and penalty regime.

[Davwlk]

Luckily I'm not a Spanish resident as I don't spend more than 6 months over there. The licence looks safe - I'll be interested to see if the fine reaches me.