French Speed Cameras
Discussion
Just back from a visit to Italy for the Mille Miglia - managed to get "flashed" a few times by fixed roadside speed cameras on the way back through France - has anyone ever received any "correspondence" after being "flashed in France" ? ( my car has a personal plate and no GB stickers) not sure how far the single EU state goes when it comes to speeding and the sharing of information ?!
jtremlett said:
All French cameras are preceeded by a warning sign some metres before the camera. There should never be any need to get flashed by one.
Jonathan
Not for long:-Jonathan
Officially due to an increase in the number of highway deaths since the beginning of the year, France has decided to REMOVE all warning signs that indicate where the fixed radar boxes are located. In the past, you saw a sign that indicated when you were entering a zone with a fixed radar.
They will also install 1'000 more fixed radars on highways between now and end 2012.
Additionally, France has a number of installations that calculates your speed over a certain distance (often 5 - 8 km).
Bunty Killa said:
+1
+2 until things change. One of my mates traditionally waves at them as he goes past....On a side note, I'm always amazed how much safer/less stressful it is to go quickly on autoroutes in France when compared to motorways in the UK. They're so empty and smooth I reckon you could happily do 100mph consistently and still be safer than doing say 75mph on a regular British motorway in average traffic conditions
Mario149 said:
+2 until things change. One of my mates traditionally waves at them as he goes past....
On a side note, I'm always amazed how much safer/less stressful it is to go quickly on autoroutes in France when compared to motorways in the UK. They're so empty and smooth I reckon you could happily do 100mph consistently and still be safer than doing say 75mph on a regular British motorway in average traffic conditions
Fewer pot holes too. I am not condoning speeding but the state of some of the Motorways in UK is positively dangerous even at legal speeds and below.On a side note, I'm always amazed how much safer/less stressful it is to go quickly on autoroutes in France when compared to motorways in the UK. They're so empty and smooth I reckon you could happily do 100mph consistently and still be safer than doing say 75mph on a regular British motorway in average traffic conditions
As an aside I got a taxi from Paris to Charles De Gaul a couple of years back and the driver was on his mobile for the whole journey and got flashed about 6 times shouting "Merde" at every flash! Did not seem to bother him much so I dont know whether they just get a fine or points.
Off topic slightly....after a hoon around the Swiss / Italian alps and Ferrari Factory visit with some mates last summer, the relentless practical jokes played on one of our group led him to get his Paris office to photoshop an original speeding ticket and fine notice and posted it to the main culprit at home in England
The mock 3,000 Euro fine for doing 210kmph in a 110kmph zone nearly caused a heart attack, and a divorce when his wife saw it and told him he'd just wasted the cost of a family holiday by being so reckless
The best bit was the abusive note written in French (which the culprit couldn't translate at first), which said that French roads were not intended for English pigs to drive their German machines on at high speed and that he needed to surrender his passport and do 3 months community service in the suburbs of Paris
The mock 3,000 Euro fine for doing 210kmph in a 110kmph zone nearly caused a heart attack, and a divorce when his wife saw it and told him he'd just wasted the cost of a family holiday by being so reckless
The best bit was the abusive note written in French (which the culprit couldn't translate at first), which said that French roads were not intended for English pigs to drive their German machines on at high speed and that he needed to surrender his passport and do 3 months community service in the suburbs of Paris
Mart-1 said:
Off topic slightly....after a hoon around the Swiss / Italian alps and Ferrari Factory visit with some mates last summer, the relentless practical jokes played on one of our group led him to get his Paris office to photoshop an original speeding ticket and fine notice and posted it to the main culprit at home in England
The mock 3,000 Euro fine for doing 210kmph in a 110kmph zone nearly caused a heart attack, and a divorce when his wife saw it and told him he'd just wasted the cost of a family holiday by being so reckless
The best bit was the abusive note written in French (which the culprit couldn't translate at first), which said that French roads were not intended for English pigs to drive their German machines on at high speed and that he needed to surrender his passport and do 3 months community service in the suburbs of Paris
Brilliant. Care to scan a copy and post it onto this thread? I can think of a couple of people who I would love to do this to.The mock 3,000 Euro fine for doing 210kmph in a 110kmph zone nearly caused a heart attack, and a divorce when his wife saw it and told him he'd just wasted the cost of a family holiday by being so reckless
The best bit was the abusive note written in French (which the culprit couldn't translate at first), which said that French roads were not intended for English pigs to drive their German machines on at high speed and that he needed to surrender his passport and do 3 months community service in the suburbs of Paris
tricky to post it up as it has his name, home address, and car details on it
the tormented friend in our group drives a DB9, and was paranoid about it being secure in hotel car parks
the joke that led to him sending the French fine was us requesting when booking the hotel that the staff greet us on arrival with a comment about only a few cars being stolen, and that most nice cars just being vandalised
after 2-3 hours of sweating and paranoia, and constantly looking out at the car park, the hotel manager brought over some photos of written off crashed Astons that we'd e-mailed to him before the trip, and asked our friend if he'd like to see the last few Aston Martins that had visited the hotel
the tormented friend in our group drives a DB9, and was paranoid about it being secure in hotel car parks
the joke that led to him sending the French fine was us requesting when booking the hotel that the staff greet us on arrival with a comment about only a few cars being stolen, and that most nice cars just being vandalised
after 2-3 hours of sweating and paranoia, and constantly looking out at the car park, the hotel manager brought over some photos of written off crashed Astons that we'd e-mailed to him before the trip, and asked our friend if he'd like to see the last few Aston Martins that had visited the hotel
You can ignore the French speeding cameras, but you cant ignore if they pull you over. I was pulled over between Paris and Calais for doing 180kph on a 130 kph autoroute. The gendarme took my licence away immediately and gave me an on the spot fine. He was very un-sympethetic and even refused to show me proof of my speed on his radar claiming that it had already been deleted off his screen! The biggest bugger was that had I been caught doing 179kph, I would have simply got a fine and no ban as it is less than 50kph threshold. This ordeal really pssed me off. Initially I was v calm and polite and tried to convince him just to give me the fine and let me go. The fooker didnt want to know. Eventually I started giving him a whole mouthful and told him that it was unjustified that he couldnt give me proof of my speed! At that point he threatened to put me in the cell so I couldnt speak no more!
I was left stranded on the motorway at midnight in the petrol station and was not allowed to drive back to Calais until I could find someone with a licence to present to the gendarme so that they could release my car from their secured pound! Thankfully my Brother agreed to take a trip from London with his mate to come and pick me up and drive my car back. Ended up sleeping on the couch of the petrol station for about 6 hrs! I was so pissed that I then contacted a French lawyer to contest the ban and make an appeal. He told me that he could only do something only once I receive a letter from the French courts by post with their decision. He then said that so long as I dont receive anything in the post, I could keep driving in France (with a new licence) as nothing was formally presented to me informing I had been banned for x amount of time and therefore I had nothing to appeal to?!?
Since then (10 months ago), I have never received anything from the courts in France nor my driving licence. I applied with the DVLA and got a replacement sent within 3 days.
Just be warned, they do have brilliant roads, but if you get stopped they will bully you and there is nothing you cab do about it!
I was left stranded on the motorway at midnight in the petrol station and was not allowed to drive back to Calais until I could find someone with a licence to present to the gendarme so that they could release my car from their secured pound! Thankfully my Brother agreed to take a trip from London with his mate to come and pick me up and drive my car back. Ended up sleeping on the couch of the petrol station for about 6 hrs! I was so pissed that I then contacted a French lawyer to contest the ban and make an appeal. He told me that he could only do something only once I receive a letter from the French courts by post with their decision. He then said that so long as I dont receive anything in the post, I could keep driving in France (with a new licence) as nothing was formally presented to me informing I had been banned for x amount of time and therefore I had nothing to appeal to?!?
Since then (10 months ago), I have never received anything from the courts in France nor my driving licence. I applied with the DVLA and got a replacement sent within 3 days.
Just be warned, they do have brilliant roads, but if you get stopped they will bully you and there is nothing you cab do about it!
leeGT2 said:
You can ignore the French speeding cameras, but you cant ignore if they pull you over. I was pulled over between Paris and Calais for doing 180kph on a 130 kph autoroute. The gendarme took my licence away immediately and gave me an on the spot fine. He was very un-sympethetic and even refused to show me proof of my speed on his radar claiming that it had already been deleted off his screen! The biggest bugger was that had I been caught doing 179kph, I would have simply got a fine and no ban as it is less than 50kph threshold. This ordeal really pssed me off. Initially I was v calm and polite and tried to convince him just to give me the fine and let me go. The fooker didnt want to know. Eventually I started giving him a whole mouthful and told him that it was unjustified that he couldnt give me proof of my speed! At that point he threatened to put me in the cell so I couldnt speak no more!
I was left stranded on the motorway at midnight in the petrol station and was not allowed to drive back to Calais until I could find someone with a licence to present to the gendarme so that they could release my car from their secured pound! Thankfully my Brother agreed to take a trip from London with his mate to come and pick me up and drive my car back. Ended up sleeping on the couch of the petrol station for about 6 hrs! I was so pissed that I then contacted a French lawyer to contest the ban and make an appeal. He told me that he could only do something only once I receive a letter from the French courts by post with their decision. He then said that so long as I dont receive anything in the post, I could keep driving in France (with a new licence) as nothing was formally presented to me informing I had been banned for x amount of time and therefore I had nothing to appeal to?!?
Since then (10 months ago), I have never received anything from the courts in France nor my driving licence. I applied with the DVLA and got a replacement sent within 3 days.
Just be warned, they do have brilliant roads, but if you get stopped they will bully you and there is nothing you cab do about it!
I have a mate who is a chauffer and he often goes to France to pick up cars under similar circumstances. Great for him as he gets to drive Ford GT, Astons etc back but not so nice for the receipients of 3000 euro and above fines plus bans. Be careful out there!I was left stranded on the motorway at midnight in the petrol station and was not allowed to drive back to Calais until I could find someone with a licence to present to the gendarme so that they could release my car from their secured pound! Thankfully my Brother agreed to take a trip from London with his mate to come and pick me up and drive my car back. Ended up sleeping on the couch of the petrol station for about 6 hrs! I was so pissed that I then contacted a French lawyer to contest the ban and make an appeal. He told me that he could only do something only once I receive a letter from the French courts by post with their decision. He then said that so long as I dont receive anything in the post, I could keep driving in France (with a new licence) as nothing was formally presented to me informing I had been banned for x amount of time and therefore I had nothing to appeal to?!?
Since then (10 months ago), I have never received anything from the courts in France nor my driving licence. I applied with the DVLA and got a replacement sent within 3 days.
Just be warned, they do have brilliant roads, but if you get stopped they will bully you and there is nothing you cab do about it!
A French friend told me about a service subscription he got last summer
I assume that in-car radar detectors are illegal in France, as this system is designed to get around it by giving subscribing drivers a small gadget. If a member sees a mobile radar trap, they click the left button to record the location for one direction of carriageway and the right button for the other. The system immediately updates the location of these speed traps all over France, using the members to alert other members
The GPS locates the Police mobile radar trap, and if a subscribed member is within a certain distance of it they get an alert
Only downside is that you may be the first member speeding in the area, and you get caught without any warning
I assume that in-car radar detectors are illegal in France, as this system is designed to get around it by giving subscribing drivers a small gadget. If a member sees a mobile radar trap, they click the left button to record the location for one direction of carriageway and the right button for the other. The system immediately updates the location of these speed traps all over France, using the members to alert other members
The GPS locates the Police mobile radar trap, and if a subscribed member is within a certain distance of it they get an alert
Only downside is that you may be the first member speeding in the area, and you get caught without any warning
What the poster above is talking about, is called "Coyote". It has all the fixed radars in the DB, plus the mobile ones which are spotted by the community.
The Coyote also works in the UK, Belgium, Netherlands etc by the way
Be VERY weary of not paying fines when sent to you. If you end up on French soil again, your car might be impounded until you pay up.
The frenchies don't like foreigners, mostly because a lot of them think they are above the law. But that doesn't mean the French police should treat you like s
t...
The Coyote also works in the UK, Belgium, Netherlands etc by the way
Be VERY weary of not paying fines when sent to you. If you end up on French soil again, your car might be impounded until you pay up.
The frenchies don't like foreigners, mostly because a lot of them think they are above the law. But that doesn't mean the French police should treat you like s
t...leeGT2 said:
You can ignore the French speeding cameras, but you cant ignore if they pull you over. I was pulled over between Paris and Calais for doing 180kph on a 130 kph autoroute. The gendarme took my licence away immediately and gave me an on the spot fine. He was very un-sympethetic and even refused to show me proof of my speed on his radar claiming that it had already been deleted off his screen! The biggest bugger was that had I been caught doing 179kph, I would have simply got a fine and no ban as it is less than 50kph threshold. This ordeal really pssed me off. Initially I was v calm and polite and tried to convince him just to give me the fine and let me go. The fooker didnt want to know. Eventually I started giving him a whole mouthful and told him that it was unjustified that he couldnt give me proof of my speed! At that point he threatened to put me in the cell so I couldnt speak no more!
I was left stranded on the motorway at midnight in the petrol station and was not allowed to drive back to Calais until I could find someone with a licence to present to the gendarme so that they could release my car from their secured pound! Thankfully my Brother agreed to take a trip from London with his mate to come and pick me up and drive my car back. Ended up sleeping on the couch of the petrol station for about 6 hrs! I was so pissed that I then contacted a French lawyer to contest the ban and make an appeal. He told me that he could only do something only once I receive a letter from the French courts by post with their decision. He then said that so long as I dont receive anything in the post, I could keep driving in France (with a new licence) as nothing was formally presented to me informing I had been banned for x amount of time and therefore I had nothing to appeal to?!?
Since then (10 months ago), I have never received anything from the courts in France nor my driving licence. I applied with the DVLA and got a replacement sent within 3 days.
Just be warned, they do have brilliant roads, but if you get stopped they will bully you and there is nothing you cab do about it!
not proud to say a similar thing happened to me, fortunately the knocked off 8km for inaccuracy in the gun, they took my licence and it was never returned ans as you obtained another from DVLA. My Wife was with me and was able to drive the car away, I subsequently chased as I was re-visiting France and did not want to be driving while banned and eventually heard I'd been given a 2 month ban which had long since expiredI was left stranded on the motorway at midnight in the petrol station and was not allowed to drive back to Calais until I could find someone with a licence to present to the gendarme so that they could release my car from their secured pound! Thankfully my Brother agreed to take a trip from London with his mate to come and pick me up and drive my car back. Ended up sleeping on the couch of the petrol station for about 6 hrs! I was so pissed that I then contacted a French lawyer to contest the ban and make an appeal. He told me that he could only do something only once I receive a letter from the French courts by post with their decision. He then said that so long as I dont receive anything in the post, I could keep driving in France (with a new licence) as nothing was formally presented to me informing I had been banned for x amount of time and therefore I had nothing to appeal to?!?
Since then (10 months ago), I have never received anything from the courts in France nor my driving licence. I applied with the DVLA and got a replacement sent within 3 days.
Just be warned, they do have brilliant roads, but if you get stopped they will bully you and there is nothing you cab do about it!
Streetrod said:
Am I right in thinking that radar and laser detectors are also banned in France, and if that is so how do they class GPS based systems that tell you where cameras are?
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