French Driving Laws
Discussion
Jonny TVR said:
Go to Italy instead
Only problem with that is the route needed to get to Italy.This year my favoured route has been Calais....Belgium....Luxembourg....Germany.....Austria.
Traffic is awful in much of southern Germany.
Alternative route is 500+ miles of French autoroute ,expensive in tolls and then Mont Blanc tunnel ,also a tad pricey.
I don't bother with Switzerland.
Pericoloso said:
I don't bother with Switzerland.
It's pretty, but never speed. Can be mitigated by finding a mountain road that terminates at the top of the valley and do a sighting run first. Fewer police in the rural areas.However, you run the very real risk of a local calling the police and the police meeting you at the bottom. But generally, wait until you are on the Italian side.
Vaud said:
Pericoloso said:
I don't bother with Switzerland.
It's pretty, but never speed. Can be mitigated by finding a mountain road that terminates at the top of the valley and do a sighting run first. Fewer police in the rural areas.However, you run the very real risk of a local calling the police and the police meeting you at the bottom. But generally, wait until you are on the Italian side.
The motorway through the Gotthard Pass is heavily policed all the way to the Italian border. The Simplon Pass is generally less policed. However, on my last run through it, it was clear from Brig/Visp all the way up and down. However, the Swiss police had sneakily set up a laser gun on the less than one mile stretch between the Swiss customs post (when you might be forgiven for thinking you had entered Italy) and the Italian border, so I would advise drivers to ascertain that they really have entered Italy before exploring their cars' capabilities
. I do the via Sempione frequently and have only ever seen one police car on it in a decade (a Panda). There are a pleasing number of tunnels between the border and Arona for those with V6s and V8s. The real policing starts on the run down to Milan and includes Tutor (the average speed thingy), plus plenty of Alfa-borne rozzers.
Just to even up the debate for those shouting about the nasty Gendarmes, how many of you are aware that very similar procedures can be imposed on a non UK driver stopped in the UK for driving offences?
No UK address for service of a summons leads to a £300 deposit per offence paid to the officer at the roadside. Fail to pay that and you're likely to get your car immobilised and possibly nicked.
No UK address for service of a summons leads to a £300 deposit per offence paid to the officer at the roadside. Fail to pay that and you're likely to get your car immobilised and possibly nicked.
Rushjob said:
Just to even up the debate for those shouting about the nasty Gendarmes, how many of you are aware that very similar procedures can be imposed on a non UK driver stopped in the UK for driving offences?
No UK address for service of a summons leads to a £300 deposit per offence paid to the officer at the roadside. Fail to pay that and you're likely to get your car immobilised and possibly nicked.
Interesting. I wonder what the enforcement level of that is.No UK address for service of a summons leads to a £300 deposit per offence paid to the officer at the roadside. Fail to pay that and you're likely to get your car immobilised and possibly nicked.
Vaud said:
Rushjob said:
Just to even up the debate for those shouting about the nasty Gendarmes, how many of you are aware that very similar procedures can be imposed on a non UK driver stopped in the UK for driving offences?
No UK address for service of a summons leads to a £300 deposit per offence paid to the officer at the roadside. Fail to pay that and you're likely to get your car immobilised and possibly nicked.
Interesting. I wonder what the enforcement level of that is.No UK address for service of a summons leads to a £300 deposit per offence paid to the officer at the roadside. Fail to pay that and you're likely to get your car immobilised and possibly nicked.
Number of officers to deal with traffic offences are low however (Roads Policing is very low on E&W Policing priorities).
That's before you look at that France has 50% more Police (per head of population) than E&W do.
Doofus said:
I wasn't 'frogmarched' anywhere, nor was I 'mugged'. There's a tariff of fines, and I paid in accordance with it. I got a receipt for the cash, and for my licence (which arrived back home in Blighty about three weeks later along with notification of my 3 month ban). I actually prefer that method of enforcement (although it was incredibly inconvenient) to ours, which is to send a letter telling somebody they broke the law a while ago and to levy a punishment that, in essence, is unconnected to the crime in the mind of the offender, who often won't even remember doing wrong and wasn't aware of it at the time.
That encapsulates the point I was trying to make earlier when some arse started going on about little Englanders. The laws, rules and accepted conventions are different in other countries. Enforcement and dealing with it as above allows a conversation and understanding of the issue, essentially a learning process. Cross border post event enforcement by mail requires that either the rules are uniform or that it is easy to obtain the rules in advance. As before this sets aside the instances of driving like a dick style offences regardless of specifics, I have no sympathy with those offenders, this includes substantially over permitted and signed limit.surveyor_101 said:
You should have first aid kit, warning triangle, high viz vest for ALL PASSENGERS, and a spare bulb set for your car and the aforementioned.
Re the spare bulb kit. Any idea how this works with some modern cars? My car is all LED so I couldn't get a bulb kit for it if I wanted to.Anyway, les flics have made a spectacular mess of policing the Tour de France today, it seems.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/artic...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/artic...
I've just returned from France after driving through from the Nurburgring to cannes nice and back up to Reims and back to the tunnel .
Hardly saw any cops , just two mobile speed traps , both of which flashed the cars overtaking me , I was on the limit and they can't have been any more than 10kmh above it , same goes for the static cameras , there doesn't seem to be much room for error unfortunately.
Hardly saw any cops , just two mobile speed traps , both of which flashed the cars overtaking me , I was on the limit and they can't have been any more than 10kmh above it , same goes for the static cameras , there doesn't seem to be much room for error unfortunately.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Apologies for butting in, but we are all aware of your opinion on speeding enforcement, which I think was the offence specifically mentioned in one of your posts on this thread. No double standards on display, I agree.I think we all remember, unfortunately, your input on the Huhne thread.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The touble is that when somebody uses hyperbole, it's not always easy to infer precise nuance. Stop using words like 'frogmarch' and 'mug', which you have deliberately chosen because they are loaded with prejudice. Try using a more objective syntax, and not only willl your message be clearer, but you'll appear a little less like a foaming-at-the-mouth swivel eyed bigot.How's that for hyperbole?
anonymous said:
[redacted]
No it is not reasonable. If you are travelling in another country of which you are not a citizen but a guest you abide by their laws even if you disagree with them or not.You remind me of the kind of tourist who goes to another country and expects to be able to act exactly the same way (and sometimes in far worse ways) that they do at home and then cry when they find out the local laws are a tad different .
A friend of mine once passionately pressed his then girlfriend up against a wall and kissed her (she reacted enthusiastically to this advance) unfortunately for him a new orleans police officer took the view that it was an assault and arrested him . he spent the night in jail until a lawyer got him released the next morning. even with his girlfriend pleading with the police officer that she was fine and it was not assault under local law the officer was with in his rights to arrest him.
in short don't break the law abroad if you do not want the local law enforcement to use the powers granted to them by the government(people) of the country you are in.
the only say in the matter you get is not to visit nations whose laws and application you disagree with
Doofus said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The touble is that when somebody uses hyperbole, it's not always easy to infer precise nuance. Stop using words like 'frogmarch' and 'mug', which you have deliberately chosen because they are loaded with prejudice. Try using a more objective syntax, and not only willl your message be clearer, but you'll appear a little less like a foaming-at-the-mouth swivel eyed bigot.How's that for hyperbole?
citizensm1th said:
in short don't break the law abroad if you do not want the local law enforcement to use the powers granted to them by the government(people) of the country you are in.
the only say in the matter you get is not to visit nations whose laws and application you disagree with
I agree, particularly when the judiciary process is so well thought out, easy(ish) to understand (apparently) and fair. the only say in the matter you get is not to visit nations whose laws and application you disagree with
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