French police nab cannonball run drivers.

[nel]

Heard on the french radio this morning that the police up near Calais have nabbed 2 drivers taking part in the cannonball run to Rimini in Italy. The Kent police tipped them off that a bunch of 30 sports cars were on their way over (bastards!).

One fezza at 240 kph, the other a Porsche at 195 kph. Drivers locked up while the administration creaks into gear and decides what to do with them. Apparently they are considering trying to make a charge of damgerous driving stick, so that they can confiscate the cars and then sell them for benefit of the state.

Hard luck to those who got caught, even though I'm not sure that you do other performance car drivers a great favour. Presumably that means that 28 runners slipped the net and have (by now) finished hooning across Italy, hopefully without incident.

[nel]

Dunno - unless I hear otherwise I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they were driving fast in an appropriate manner. Driving very fast on empty Monday evening roads in northern France doesn't bother me at all, but obviously if they were weaving through traffic at speed then they deserve a judicial slapping.

[nel]

You guys are great moralisers. Note that there are no reports of accidents or other problems - they were just driving quickly, something with which I have no issues if it is done without putting others in danger.

They are willing to risk run-ins with the law to have a bit of fun - something that we all do if we speed. They double that risk by doing it an organised event - surely that is their problem?

So what are your problems with this - that they're rich? Or you're assuming that they're all chinless hoorays? I don't really know or care either way, but you guys seem very quick to judge. What about solidarity among speeders?!?!

[nel]

Big_M said:

nel said:

You guys are great moralisers. Note that there are no reports of accidents or other problems - they were just driving quickly, something with which I have no issues if it is done without putting others in danger.

However their observations skills were not sufficient to spot the police and they got done.

Tough!

And I have earned the right to be self righteous - 30 years of driving and nil points

Fair enough - the tough luck reaction I understand. Has to be said that the police had a bit of an advantage after being told that they were coming!

[nel]

apache said:

amen to that, if I had the dosh I'd be in there myself

If you mean that if you had the wonga you'd be cannonballing yourself then all I can say is each to his own. It wouldn't be my cup of tea even if I was rolling in it, but even so I don't feel like judging the two who got caught in the absence of the facts. I've gone much faster than 240 kph on an empty french motorway so don't have an issue with the speed.

Anyway, the cops have now established a system that I don't agree with, so I'm happy when someone speeding safely gets away with it. Hell, even the guy in his porker turbo caught burning round the M25 who then got off on a technicality - good for him just because it's one in the eye for the repressive authorities.

[nel]

flemke said:

mr_tony said:

3. AFter 6p[m - every self respecting Gendarme is heading home via the bar

Have been pulled at 9:15 pm on the Autoroute by a pair of cops operating a speed trap on the overpass of a junction, their car hidden by bushes.

Have twice been flashed (and completely fecking blinded!) by mobile radar units in the early hours of the morning, i.e. 1 and 2 a.m. respectively. One was on a motorway, the other on a dual carriageway 'nationale', both unlit and empty at the time of the offence. Got a brief ban for the latter unfortunately.

Even those with the best 'nose' for a speed trap - I challenge you to detect a car with radar unit parked 3/4s obscured behind a bridge support on an unlit road.....unless you have a radar detector. Have to say, despite the sanctions for these devices in France I'm toying with buying one for late night drives.

[nel]

Just heard on French radio on the way home - probably be in the British press tomorrow.

The court at Bethune found them guilty of racing on the A26 at speeds of up to 200 kph (shock horror - not 125 mph!!). 3 month suspended prison sentence, Ferrari and Porsche definitively confiscated for sale by the state, and 1000€ fines! Talk about an over-reaction to a victimless crime! Same problem as in the UK - you'd get less than that for GBH in France! I assume that the vehicle confiscation will be over-turned on appeal or by a European court, but they have certainly sent a strong signal about Gumballs, Cannonballs, etc.

[nel]

dazren said:

tinman0 said:

They key word here is "racing".

Totally agree. OF course how do you define the term? Two cars doing more than the posted limit. They can't be just driving in convoy, they must be racing each other!

DAZ

A Ferrari and a Porsche don't race along the A26 at 200 kph - hell I used to drive down that road in a Renault Espace at 190 kph with no problems, so if they were racing they'd have been at 260 plus.

Whatever. By being in the Cannonball run, their stated aim was to set the fastest time from Calais to Rimini, so I suppose that makes racing. Prison sentence, albeit suspended, and definitive vehicle confiscation still seems a tad extreme, given that a porker at 250 kph going to Le Mans got away with a fine and temporary licence removal. World's gone mad.

[nel]

DJC said:

nel said:

Just heard on French radio on the way home - probably be in the British press tomorrow.

The court at Bethune found them guilty of racing on the A26 at speeds of up to 200 kph (shock horror - not 125 mph!!). 3 month suspended prison sentence, Ferrari and Porsche definitively confiscated for sale by the state, and 1000€ fines! Talk about an over-reaction to a victimless crime! Same problem as in the UK - you'd get less than that for GBH in France! I assume that the vehicle confiscation will be over-turned on appeal or by a European court, but they have certainly sent a strong signal about Gumballs, Cannonballs, etc.

Good, the sooner this cr@p is banned the better. Can never understand why the French police dont camp out on the routes down to Le Mans each yr easy pickings.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but you might be better off on some pro-speed tax site.

[nel]

DJC said:

Yes, I love the fact that the previously laid back French police are now speeding fine money merchants, pretty much all down to the Cannon/Gumbal/whatever Continent runners and the Driving Holiday brigade. Yep, absolutely love that! Not.

Sorry DJC, shouldn't have made an unnecessary dig and it's true that life would be pretty boring if we all agreed.

However, you can't blame the "thing"ballers for the radical change in the french attitude to speeding. They started getting serious about it just because of the number of deaths on the roads here - at no time was a stated aim to target british motorists or car enthusiasts. I have never heard that british drivers in performance cars have been associated with lots of accidental deaths - that is more the result of big feck-off trees lining all major nationales, drunk drivers from Bretagne and a general disprespect of pedestrians!

The persecution of british drivers is just a by product of the government's stated aim to make as much money out of speeding motorists as possible! We make good targets funnily enough!

[nel]

For those who read french:

www.lefigaro.fr/france/20060712.FIG000000080_quand_la_jet_set_anglaise_joue_aux_fous_du_volant.html

Quite a bit of bullshit in there, but also comment about Tispol (Traffic Information System Police) that is used to track and catch these people as they cross borders.

I've been defending them up to now because safe speeding doesn't worry me and I have a them and us attitude to the police nowadays, but have now discovered that the two guys who got caught are actually estate agents!

Personally I don't think vehicle confiscation, fines and suspended prison sentences are enough, and wish to start a petition for the frogs to roll out the guillotine...

[nel]

DJC said:

jacobyte said:

Of course, if you get caught exceeding the speed limit, whether on your own or on an X-ball event, then don't moan, you have been well and truly busted. But it's fair to moan if the punishment is excessive. The French police that are the subject of this thread are trying to make a political point - c.f. paragraph 2 of this post. Noli illegitimi carborundum.

Except it wasnt excessive and the punishment applied wasnt political, but exactly what the law stated. Me thinks you fall into the same "hasnt read the law" class that Le TVR just mentioned!

OK, there is no indication that they were caught doing anything other than driving fast - the police have not stated that they were undertaking, hard shouldering, etc. On that basis of course the sentence was excessive! Those going to Le Mans caught at much higher speeds got a "little" fine of 1500€. Compare that to confiscation of their vehicles for doing 125 mph along the A26 and it is clear that the authorites want to send a major political message about this type of "organised road racing" event. These guys are being hung out to dry.

I agree that by partaking in the event and then falling into the coppers' trap they have set themselves up to take a fall, but I still feel that the reaction is well over the top. The frigging nanny state kill-joys will eventually get their way and emasculate us all with satellite tracking devices and speed limiters, but until they have achieved that they will just persecute drivers mercilessly and rub their hands at all the money going into their coffers.

[nel]

tinman0 said:

nel said:

OK, there is no indication that they were caught doing anything other than driving fast - the police have not stated that they were undertaking, hard shouldering, etc. On that basis of course the sentence was excessive! Those going to Le Mans caught at much higher speeds got a "little" fine of 1500€. Compare that to confiscation of their vehicles for doing 125 mph along the A26 and it is clear that the authorites want to send a major political message about this type of "organised road racing" event. These guys are being hung out to dry.

I agree that by partaking in the event and then falling into the coppers' trap they have set themselves up to take a fall, but I still feel that the reaction is well over the top. The frigging nanny state kill-joys will eventually get their way and emasculate us all with satellite tracking devices and speed limiters, but until they have achieved that they will just persecute drivers mercilessly and rub their hands at all the money going into their coffers.

Give it a break. They were done for racing, not for speeding. Totally different offence.

And they weren't misunderstood angels who were only doing 125 - they were doing way more than 125 - it was 125 that they managed to brake to in the time the thought "oh shit cops" and mashing the brake pedal to the floor took before they actually got recorded.

Is it any wonder that the French Police are a little unhappy with Cannonball since two teams were on TV last year boasting how they had done 800 miles in under 6 hours.

We obviously don't have all the facts, so don't know how the cops proved them to be racing - just an opinion or coz they had stickers on their cars (shock horror!)? Will this precedent now be used to confiscate the cars of any speeding drivers travelling in a convoy?

Am not trying to defend them because they chose to get themselves in this mess (and they are estate agents after all) and possibly have done us all a dis-service, but do feel that the sentence handed down is ridiculous.

[nel]

nel said:

Just heard on French radio on the way home - probably be in the British press tomorrow.

The court at Bethune found them guilty of racing on the A26 at speeds of up to 200 kph (shock horror - not 125 mph!!). 3 month suspended prison sentence, Ferrari and Porsche definitively confiscated for sale by the state, and 1000€ fines! Talk about an over-reaction to a victimless crime! Same problem as in the UK - you'd get less than that for GBH in France! I assume that the vehicle confiscation will be over-turned on appeal or by a European court, but they have certainly sent a strong signal about Gumballs, Cannonballs, etc.

Dug this up because I read an article about Canonball run cars being sold by the state. In fact the ones referred to in this article (in french - link below) belonged to drivers nabbed in September 2004 at around 120 mph on the A1 in northern France. Looks like the sentence didn't get turned over on appeal, so they ended up with £50k fines for speeding......

Absolutely disgraceful, and I'm delighted to report that lots of french people are horrified by such high-handedness too. At this rate the french will again start a revolution against repression while the brits moan and drink tea.....


www.leblogauto.com/2006/09/saisies-pour-exces-de-vitesse%e2%80%a6et-vendues-aux-encheres.html#more-6343

[nel]

Thanks for the correction lordbenny - the journalist obviously got his dates wrong then. So having paid up to buy their cars back, are they in any way appealing against the penalty imposed by the french (ouch!!) or just grinning and bearing it?