New laws surrounding speeding in France?

[Kawasicki]

I drove to the south of France at Easter. Two weeks after I got home I got 4 letters in the post for speeding. 45€ a shot, for speeds between 2 and 6 km/h over the limit. Yes, I'm that crazy.

Anyway, I broke the law, so I paid the cash. Last time I'll go to France on holidays though, I'm sure they'll miss me.

[cmaguire]

This'll be interesting then.
I go tomorrow for a week, usually sat at between 90-130 the whole way to near Limoges.
I'll make sure Waze is on and I do slow for the cameras it and I see.

[lost in espace]

cmaguire said:

This'll be interesting then.
I go tomorrow for a week, usually sat at between 90-130 the whole way to near Limoges.
I'll make sure Waze is on and I do slow for the cameras it and I see.

Is using waze legal in France does anyone know?

[joshleb]

lost in espace said:

cmaguire said:

This'll be interesting then.
I go tomorrow for a week, usually sat at between 90-130 the whole way to near Limoges.
I'll make sure Waze is on and I do slow for the cameras it and I see.

Is using waze legal in France does anyone know?

How is anyone going to know you're using it?

[Alucidnation]

Speed cameras in France are not that obvious or in places you expect, plus the gendarmes don't stand out too much either.

[mybrainhurts]

Courage, mes braves....

When I take over, the first thing we do is invade France.

[Sa Calobra]

Kawasicki said:

I drove to the south of France at Easter. Two weeks after I got home I got 4 letters in the post for speeding. 45€ a shot, for speeds between 2 and 6 km/h over the limit. Yes, I'm that crazy.

Anyway, I broke the law, so I paid the cash. Last time I'll go to France on holidays though, I'm sure they'll miss me.

So you broke a countries speed limit and throwing a strop?

I picked up a parking fine in the centre of Palma. I paid it as I want to go back and I like the place.

[Perik Omo]

cmaguire said:

This'll be interesting then.
I go tomorrow for a week, usually sat at between 90-130 the whole way to near Limoges.
I'll make sure Waze is on and I do slow for the cameras it and I see.

If you are going south around Limoges on the N520/D2000 beware of a new camera that seems to operate in both directions, it's a few kms south of Family Village on the left-hand side of the road at the end of a long lay-by. Just after that camera was put in I got flashed at 88km/h (according to Waze) but received no ticket.

For the other poster asking about Waze, I live in France and use it every trip as the speed traps/cameras have proliferated in the last couple of years and in one 4 month period got done 3 times with lowest exceeding the limit by 1 km/h and the highest 10 km/h so I'm now exceedingly careful.

[Kawasicki]

Sa Calobra said:

Kawasicki said:

I drove to the south of France at Easter. Two weeks after I got home I got 4 letters in the post for speeding. 45€ a shot, for speeds between 2 and 6 km/h over the limit. Yes, I'm that crazy.

Anyway, I broke the law, so I paid the cash. Last time I'll go to France on holidays though, I'm sure they'll miss me.

So you broke a countries speed limit and throwing a strop?

I picked up a parking fine in the centre of Palma. I paid it as I want to go back and I like the place.

Throwing a strop? No. I calmly paid my speeding fines. I have also decided that I would prefer to spend my time in countries that don't fine people for driving 2 km/h over an already artificially low speed limit.

[4rephill]

Joe5y said:

As with many I'm off to Le Mans this week. I'm not one for doing silly speeds but do often drift higher than the 130kph limit.

As of May new laws mean that UK licenced cars / drivers can be fined. But how? I'll get a letter through the post, I'll bin it, then what? How will it be followed up?

spookly said:

The Belgians are enforcing the Law in France now?

mybrainhurts said:

Courage, mes braves....

When I take over, the first thing we do is invade France.

Why? - It's full of the bloody French

[AH33]

joshleb said:

How is anyone going to know you're using it?

Exactly

[E36GUY]

Le Mans Week + British Numberplate = Don't Speed.

Follow that equation and the rest is irrelevant.

[Riley Blue]

E36GUY said:

Le Mans Week + British Numberplate = Don't Speed.

Follow that equation and the rest is irrelevant.

Wrong, the EU cross border enforcement directive includes:

Speeding;
Not using a seatbelt;
Not stopping at a red traffic light or other mandatory stop signal;
Drink driving;
Driving under the influence of drugs;
Not wearing a safety helmet (for motorcyclists);
Using a forbidden lane (such as the forbidden use of an emergency lane, a lane reserved for public transport, or a lane closed down for road works);
Illegally using a mobile phone, or any other communications device, while driving.

[Solocle]

Riley Blue said:

Wrong, the EU cross border enforcement directive includes:

Speeding;
Not using a seatbelt;
Not stopping at a red traffic light or other mandatory stop signal;
Drink driving;
Driving under the influence of drugs;
Not wearing a safety helmet (for motorcyclists);
Using a forbidden lane (such as the forbidden use of an emergency lane, a lane reserved for public transport, or a lane closed down for road works);
Illegally using a mobile phone, or any other communications device, while driving.

Of that list, the only one I may or may not engage in is the first.
I use a seatbelt. I stop at lights (unless there's a very good reason not to). I wouldn't even consider the rest.

[lowdrag]

Riley Blue said:

Wrong, the EU cross border enforcement directive includes:

Speeding;
Not using a seatbelt;
Not stopping at a red traffic light or other mandatory stop signal;
Drink driving;
Driving under the influence of drugs;
Not wearing a safety helmet (for motorcyclists);
Using a forbidden lane (such as the forbidden use of an emergency lane, a lane reserved for public transport, or a lane closed down for road works);
Illegally using a mobile phone, or any other communications device, while driving.

Frankly, all of the above will only be enforced by police intervention at the time, with the exception of fixed cameras of course. There they might pursue you in the UK. Two thirds of fixed camera penalties are foreigners, hence their annoyance. A few years back I translated for someone whose car had been confiscated for a speed of over 160 mph - and it was a new California. Six months later it came to court and he only got his car back because it was in the name of his company. He was banned from driving in France for two years and six months later was turned around when getting off the ferry and sent back to the UK. Now that computers exist in France they are starting to have long memories, and do not forget that an excess of more than 50kph over the prevailing limit can entail loss of car if it is yours. Two people doing the Cannonball found that out to their costs and had to go to the auction to buy their cars back. One did, one didn't.

[largelunchbox]

Simple answer to the op question, don't fekin go over the limit

[vsonix]

cmaguire said:

This'll be interesting then.
I go tomorrow for a week, usually sat at between 90-130 the whole way to near Limoges.
I'll make sure Waze is on and I do slow for the cameras it and I see.

iirc it's actually illegal in France to use any kind of device that alerts you to the presence of a camera, either radar/laser scanner boxes or GPS based devices including TomTom alerts, Road Angel or similar.

[Riley Blue]

vsonix said:

iirc it's actually illegal in France to use any kind of device that alerts you to the presence of a camera, either radar/laser scanner boxes or GPS based devices including TomTom alerts, Road Angel or similar.

However it's perfectly lawful to use a device that alerts you to 'danger zones' which include stretches of road where cameras and other hazards are sited so a POI database on a TomTom, for example, is OK.

[vsonix]

Riley Blue said:

vsonix said:

iirc it's actually illegal in France to use any kind of device that alerts you to the presence of a camera, either radar/laser scanner boxes or GPS based devices including TomTom alerts, Road Angel or similar.

However it's perfectly lawful to use a device that alerts you to 'danger zones' which include stretches of road where cameras and other hazards are sited so a POI database on a TomTom, for example, is OK.

Ah yeah, wasn't that the loophole that the various providers used to get round the legislation... It's been a while now I'd forgotten the ins and outs of it.
The overzealous speed policing kinda ruined driving in France for me too. It's not made a jot of difference to how people drive over there, if anything it's actually got worse... which in the South is no mean feat. People drive slower but also pay less attention to the road itself. I got rear ended on the Autoroute just out Marseiile last time I was over there

[Dixy]

largelunchbox said:

Simple answer to the op question, don't fekin go over the limit

You have mistakenly logged in to Piston Heads, mumsnet is somewhere else.