Caught in France last week.

[djcevo]

The situation is that a few friends and I were in France last week and we all got pulled for speeding but they could only prove that one of the cars was speeding, however, as I had a origin b2 in my car with the laser attachment they fined me €750 on the spot and I have to attend court on the 30th May. What I want to know is a) If I just don't turn up what can they do? B)If I do turn up what is the likely course of events. I would like to hear from anyone that has been in a similar position please. If you have any advice can you email at [e-mail] Ta

[E36GUY]

You've been required to go to court. So go to court. This is Europe so if you don't turn up you could be making things worse for yourself and the Frenchies could easily ask for you to be arrested in this country. Having said that, you might be able to plead guilty (if that's what you intend to do) without having to turn up like you can in certain offences in this country so my advice would be to ask somewhere like www.totalfrance.com

[DJFish]

I don't mean to sound holier than thou as I've been done myself in France, but I'm presuming the fact that you got caught meant that the laser detector that got you into trouble wasn't actually worth having in the first place?

Have you tried http://www.pepipoo.com/ ?

Edited by DJFish on Wednesday 23 April 09:45

[lowdrag]

I assume you gave all your details and they have your address in the UK and so they are likely to follow it up. However, more to the point, even if they don't, do you intend to return to France again? If so, the fine and the conviction will be on the police computer (look inside any french police car and there it is on the dashboard) and they'll see your number plate and - bingo - you are in the s**t again. In a way just like the ANPS cameras in the UK. On the bright side three years back I got fined 1,500 euros on the spot and it went to court where I was fined 750 euros and so I got 660 euros back (90 euros court costs). Also, this is a warning to all of you - radar detectors are completely illegal in France and the standard fine is 750 euros and confiscation on the spot of the detector. I think it was a year or so back that on the Cannonball they had about 20 cars at 750 euros each. Frankly, for peace of mind's sake, I'd either get a french solicitor to go to court on your behalf or attend yourself. Just my take on the matter and - good luck.

[Mattt]

Your case is probably fairly different, but we once got a court summons in Paris for parking - and just buggered off home, nothing was ever chased up.