French Speed limits
Discussion
I'm planning a road trip for july and was just wondering what advice people had for driving on the french roads these days. Wanted to know what is the speed at which they confiscate your car and also wanted to know what is a safe, fairly brisk cruising speed on the motorways.
Also if people could tell me if they've ever been stopped by a policeman at any pretty ridiculously low speeds it'd be useful to hear just so i can err on the side of caution!
Also if people could tell me if they've ever been stopped by a policeman at any pretty ridiculously low speeds it'd be useful to hear just so i can err on the side of caution!
Hi ,
good site here
http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-france...
Most important Fuel most garages dont accept UK bank cards visa / credit cards so take enough money , plan to keep your car full as often as possible fuel staions are not as frequent as the uk and once closed 24hr stations usually only accept cards !!
also plenty of threads to read
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Never been stopped touch wood !!! but impression gendarmes are strict , if you have a radar detector make sure its well hidden otherwise its a 1500 euro fine and it will be confiscated.
If you do get caught speeding ( high speed )say around 120 mph be aware that a driving ban is instanteous on the spot , so make sure you have a passenger who is also insured also 750 euro fine ......
......bit difficult for me in a single seater !!!!
dont worry about French road cameras as yet the DVLA dont process fines just dont hoon past one and take the piss ....may cause problems later , I cruise around 150kmh - say 95 mph never been stopped yet and 10% over is a 90 euro fine..
worth taking Euro cover breakdown .......mate lost his water pump and was ripped off by local garage by 700 euros !!! and a weeks wait !!
good site here
http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-france...
Most important Fuel most garages dont accept UK bank cards visa / credit cards so take enough money , plan to keep your car full as often as possible fuel staions are not as frequent as the uk and once closed 24hr stations usually only accept cards !!
also plenty of threads to read
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Never been stopped touch wood !!! but impression gendarmes are strict , if you have a radar detector make sure its well hidden otherwise its a 1500 euro fine and it will be confiscated.
If you do get caught speeding ( high speed )say around 120 mph be aware that a driving ban is instanteous on the spot , so make sure you have a passenger who is also insured also 750 euro fine ......
......bit difficult for me in a single seater !!!!
dont worry about French road cameras as yet the DVLA dont process fines just dont hoon past one and take the piss ....may cause problems later , I cruise around 150kmh - say 95 mph never been stopped yet and 10% over is a 90 euro fine..
worth taking Euro cover breakdown .......mate lost his water pump and was ripped off by local garage by 700 euros !!! and a weeks wait !!
Edited by DBSV8 on Saturday 16th June 04:48
Billy83 said:
I'm planning a road trip for july and was just wondering what advice people had for driving on the french roads these days. Wanted to know what is the speed at which they confiscate your car and also wanted to know what is a safe, fairly brisk cruising speed on the motorways.
My main advice is that driving standards are much higher on averagein France than in the UK.
Don't drive like the average Brit otherwise you will
stick out like a sore thumb.
Lane discipline on the autoroute is strict, for example.
As for speeds, 100 mph seems to be fine. I think they start
confiscation at about 170 kph, or 107 mph.
Don't forget that if you have your windscreen wipers on,
then it is legally defined as "raining" and so the
limit drops to 110 kmh or about 70 mph. Far slower
might be appropriate.
DBSV8 said:
Most important Fuel most garages dont accept UK bank cards visa / credit cards so take enough money , plan to keep your car full as often as possible fuel staions are not as frequent as the uk and once closed 24hr stations usually only accept cards
Yep that yanks my chain too. Normally if not going to France I tend to leave the ferry on fumes (ok the last couple of gallons which is fumes for me
) and then fill up on the local cheap (relative to UK) brew in the station round the corner but France! Just not worth it.Billy83 said:
Thanks guys.
Also just wanted to know what sort of time it seems to take people from calais to monaco/cannes etc on a good day?
It is about 1200km or about 745 miles.Also just wanted to know what sort of time it seems to take people from calais to monaco/cannes etc on a good day?
Say ten hours or so. Depends on how
many fag/toilet/meal/fuel breaks you have.
Something diesel won't need to stop
often for fuel. Something like a TVR or an M5
will need to stop every couple of hundred
miles or so.
I find the RAC route planner here gives a good guide if a little pessimistic. I can consistently beat the RAC times, with stops, and driving legally re limits.
My own satnav tends to calculate shorter times and is a better indication to me of journey time, i.e. what time I make up on the fly I lose on stops to fill vehicle tank, and service my tank, both filling and emptying .... too much detail I hear. In essence though I usually beat that time too, but not by much.
RAC gives 12h44m to Calais Gare Maritime to Cafe Grand Prix Monaco. On that basis I'd expect, with a following wind, around 11h ish, 10h sounds a bit quick to me, BUT remember that IS sticking to the limits.
Just checked one journey did last month, RAC gave it as 11h 17m, it actually took 12 hours, but that included 2 hours sat in a major traffic jam following a shunt closing the road.
Hope that helps.
My own satnav tends to calculate shorter times and is a better indication to me of journey time, i.e. what time I make up on the fly I lose on stops to fill vehicle tank, and service my tank, both filling and emptying .... too much detail I hear. In essence though I usually beat that time too, but not by much.
RAC gives 12h44m to Calais Gare Maritime to Cafe Grand Prix Monaco. On that basis I'd expect, with a following wind, around 11h ish, 10h sounds a bit quick to me, BUT remember that IS sticking to the limits.
Just checked one journey did last month, RAC gave it as 11h 17m, it actually took 12 hours, but that included 2 hours sat in a major traffic jam following a shunt closing the road.
Hope that helps.
[quote=DBSV8
Most important Fuel most garages dont accept UK bank cards visa / credit cards so take enough money , plan to keep your car full as often as possible fuel staions are not as frequent as the uk and once closed 24hr stations usually only accept cards !!
[/quote]
Sorry that is not true at all. I have never had a manned garage refuse my cards (credit or debit). However I have never managed to get an unmanned garage (that works off cards) to accept my card. There's loads of petrol stations on the autoroute and many off. The ones off the autoroute do close quite early 6pm ish and then it is harder.
Petrol isn't really a problem in Fr.
Regarding speed limits, allegedly 40kph over the limit leads to them taking away your keys. No personal experience of it though.
Graham
Most important Fuel most garages dont accept UK bank cards visa / credit cards so take enough money , plan to keep your car full as often as possible fuel staions are not as frequent as the uk and once closed 24hr stations usually only accept cards !!
[/quote]
Sorry that is not true at all. I have never had a manned garage refuse my cards (credit or debit). However I have never managed to get an unmanned garage (that works off cards) to accept my card. There's loads of petrol stations on the autoroute and many off. The ones off the autoroute do close quite early 6pm ish and then it is harder.
Petrol isn't really a problem in Fr.
Regarding speed limits, allegedly 40kph over the limit leads to them taking away your keys. No personal experience of it though.
Graham
Regarding taking your keys, 2 British guys had their cars confiscated and sold at Auction for speeding. I think one was a Porsche Ruff. I think they were on the Cannonball.
As for petrol stations not accepting credit/debit cards. That must have been a log time ago. I work for a French company and travel to France about twice a month and usually hire a car. Toulouse, Paris Le Havre, plus I also organise a Euro Tour for Honda Type R's which travels through some very remote parts of France and I have never been refused payment by card yet.
As for petrol stations not accepting credit/debit cards. That must have been a log time ago. I work for a French company and travel to France about twice a month and usually hire a car. Toulouse, Paris Le Havre, plus I also organise a Euro Tour for Honda Type R's which travels through some very remote parts of France and I have never been refused payment by card yet.
dcb said:
Billy83 said:
I'm planning a road trip for july and was just wondering what advice people had for driving on the french roads these days. Wanted to know what is the speed at which they confiscate your car and also wanted to know what is a safe, fairly brisk cruising speed on the motorways.
My main advice is that driving standards are much higher on averagein France than in the UK.
Err ..no....
Don't drive like the average Brit otherwise you will
stick out like a sore thumb.
But you will still "arrive alive"
Lane discipline on the autoroute is strict, for example.
Nope, totally false statement I'm afraid.
As for speeds, 100 mph seems to be fine. I think they start
confiscation at about 170 kph, or 107 mph.
Don't forget speed diferential re post above ref lane discipline
Don't forget that if you have your windscreen wipers on,
then it is legally defined as "raining" and so the
limit drops to 110 kmh or about 70 mph. Far slower
might be appropriate.
Fair enough.
The manned stations are fine but all of the 24hr unmanned stations (that I've tried) only accept French cards. Trouble is, quite a few become unmanned on Sundays so fuel can be hard to come by.
It isn't unobtainable - you can always convince a local to put it on their card while you give them cash. Fuel is just more of an issue than in Blighty, especially in rural areas.
It isn't unobtainable - you can always convince a local to put it on their card while you give them cash. Fuel is just more of an issue than in Blighty, especially in rural areas.
Flat in Fifth said:
DBSV8 said:
Most important Fuel most garages dont accept UK bank cards visa / credit cards so take enough money , plan to keep your car full as often as possible fuel staions are not as frequent as the uk and once closed 24hr stations usually only accept cards
Yep that yanks my chain too. Normally if not going to France I tend to leave the ferry on fumes (ok the last couple of gallons which is fumes for me
) and then fill up on the local cheap (relative to UK) brew in the station round the corner but France! Just not worth it.Zod said:
Flat in Fifth said:
DBSV8 said:
Most important Fuel most garages dont accept UK bank cards visa / credit cards so take enough money , plan to keep your car full as often as possible fuel staions are not as frequent as the uk and once closed 24hr stations usually only accept cards
Yep that yanks my chain too. Normally if not going to France I tend to leave the ferry on fumes (ok the last couple of gallons which is fumes for me
) and then fill up on the local cheap (relative to UK) brew in the station round the corner but France! Just not worth it.Credit cards are accepted at all manned petrol stations, chip and pin does work and they are now used to UK cards with chip and pin.
Most supermarkets selling fuel also have an automated 24 hour section which will not allow a UK credit card to work. The petrol station in a supermarket tends to be manned for the same hours as the actual shop.
Most motorway service stations (aires) are manned 24 hours.
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