French police roadside ban for speeding

[irocfan]

TBH I've got mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand if johnny furner speeds over here I'd be more than happy for him to be marched to the nearest cash-point to have his wallet lightened. The flip side of that, however, is that it does seem somewhat disproportionate to get an insta-ban as well as a fine...

[ADDLED]

LetsTryAgain said:

Cool story, bro, and all that.
But my Dad refused to get off the coach a few years ago at some services in France.

"I've never set foot on French soil, and if you think I'm going to start now you're very much mistaken"

Was it a magic, flying coach? If not, unfortunately for him, he's set foot on French soil. Worse still, his trip was powered by cheaper French diesel!
(and for God's sake don't remind the daft fool that he's been living on German soil since the 1700s; he'll have a bloody heart attack!)

[Pericoloso]

pomodori said:

Pros to using Germany......No toll roads,until Austria or Switzerland.

Cons........Germany and Belgium can really do big jams,road surface in Belgium,awful.
Big queue of trucks on Brenner pass entering Italy too.

I was in Italy last week and used Austria to go in and back out again and agree the queuing at border was massive.

I might be back in Italy end of June and am actually thinking of using the French route instead.

Moe tolls ,less hassle ,if I don't speed.

[Dog Star]

black-k1 said:

I agree completely. I love France as a bike touring destination but I expect the Old Gits trip in a few weeks will be my last touring trip to France for some time.

While 50kmh is quite a lot over a limit of 80kmh, it doesn't address the fact that there are MANY D roads in France where exceeding 130kmh is both easy and, most importantly, safe. I don't tour in France specifically to break the law and ride with excessive speed but I do ride faster than the limit on more than a few occasions. (Always when I believe it is safe to do so.) The implementation of, what for many, me included, are ridiculously low speed limits combined with real enthusiasm to enforce those limits removes a significant part of the enjoyment of bike touring in France.

The thing is that the limit is now so low that it's just ridiculous and in my experience you're an awul lot more likely to get pulled for speeding in France than the UK.

People will say "oh but it's only 10mph less than the UK", but in reality it isn't. I've set off speed cameras over there many times for being a tiny bit over the limit, these are cameras that I know are there. There's a lot less tolerance on them. Same thing if you're nabbed by a gendarme - few kilometres and hour over the limit and you'll get a gallic shrug and your wallet lightened. In the UK our NSL is 60 but I'm pretty confident that you'd not be getting a pull off a policeman for less than 70.

Riding around on big sweeping French roads at a maximum 80 kmh is going to be seriously annoying. I don't envisage going back there unless I'm going to get a caravan.

[Slushbox]

Followed this thread with some interest, being a frequent visitor to Le Republic. My ex got lasered twice in 90 minutes driving back from Spain a couple of years ago. No on the spot fines but Europcar forwarded her details on, adding twenty Euros a time for the pleasure. The fines arived by post a month later.

I advised her to pay them or be on the [s] hit-list at Calais for ever, she did and she's been back since.

As I also might misunderstand it, the medical is to question the delinquent's regular use of 'stupefiants', if any. As it was a speeding offence, presumably with no indication of drunk/drug riding, I'm not sure that a medical is required in this case. The roadside fine is essentially a bail bond for the court case where the case can be challenged. No-show means forfeit and a suspension.

In some cases the licence ban/suspension can be challenged, and a white permit issued. Further misdemeanors gets the licensee clobbered for both offences.

The word in the cafés of Calais is that the police crackdown is not so much about speed, but detecting booze and drug-driving, and the slightest offence gets you tested for both.

The French procedure is here. There are worrying phrases like 'offence stays on criminal record':

https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroi...

Edited by Slushbox on Thursday 31st May 12:46

[IJWS15]

bad company said:

.................................., is it not draconian to impose an on the spot ban?

Surely we have the equivalent here, a foreign driver, who may not turn up for a subsequent court case, can be arrested and locked up until the court case.

Would the OP's wife have preferred a night or two in a cell in a French police station before an appearance in a French court? Surely the roadside ban is a better choice.

[catso]

IJWS15 said:

Surely we have the equivalent here, a foreign driver, who may not turn up for a subsequent court case, can be arrested and locked up until the court case.

Or, more likely ignored whilst concentrating on catching our own...

[bad company]

IJWS15 said:

Surely we have the equivalent here, a foreign driver, who may not turn up for a subsequent court case, can be arrested and locked up until the court case.

Yes that can happen but not very often unless you know better?

[A993LAD]

So, having turned my back on France, perhaps a tour of Scotland is on the cards...............

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/motoring/speeding...

[irocfan]

A993LAD said:

So, having turned my back on France, perhaps a tour of Scotland is on the cards...............

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/motoring/speeding...

Yes - that does seem like a rare outbreak of common sense. That being said.... doesn't apply to cameras

[bad company]

A993LAD said:

So, having turned my back on France, perhaps a tour of Scotland is on the cards...............

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/motoring/speeding...

We had similar in Texas. Mrs BC was driving and stopped by police speeding, she was over 100 in a 90 mph limit (85 is the maximum now). She got a written warning saying she’d be in proper st if she was caught again in Texas during the next 3 months. As a precaution I drove from then until we crossed a state line the following morning.

[psychoR1]

For many years the French have had an issue with casualty rates on their roads - hardly surprising given the remoteness of some areas e.g. Massif Central, Ardeche etc and the casual attitude to speeding locals and tourists has gone. I'm sure those remote regions also have lots of issues with drink/drug driving also. The French approach has gradually become more and more rigid. What would have got you a serious ticking off 20 years ago will now get your bike or car confiscated.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20170724/france-road-death...

I, like some on here, used to tour France with a casual regard for the speed limits in sparsely populated areas. Those days are now gone and when you look at the issues the French have had with casualty rates you cannot blame them for clamping down.

My point is - wherever you are you need to respect the local motoring laws and local approach to it. If you choose to ignore the laws then you need to understand the consequences.

If the above means that you won't travel through France then I don't think you will be missed.

[Dog Star]

psychoR1 said:

My point is - wherever you are you need to respect the local motoring laws and local approach to it. If you choose to ignore the laws then you need to understand the consequences.

If the above means that you won't travel through France then I don't think you will be missed.

Nobody is going to argue with that in theory, however when the limit is now so unrealistically low then it becomes an issue, especially when combined with the seemingly limitless resources that they will throw at catching people speeding. Their casualty rates owe more to drink driving than speeding in any case.

I remember several years ago driving down to Spain in my SL500. We weren't going mad, just driving down along the N roads. One afternoon we were heading down through Chartres, Forest of Vernon, Tours etc and the number of speed traps was absolutely insane, they were everywhere, hiding behind bushes, in a phone box (really), behind walls. The final straw was a pair of Gendarmes on motorbikes who were coming the other way who then did a U turn and followed us, right up our chuff for mile after mile. It got so stressful and so much hassle that we just got on the autoroute (which defeats the purpose of touring in a convertible.)

[black-k1]

psychoR1 said:

For many years the French have had an issue with casualty rates on their roads - hardly surprising given the remoteness of some areas e.g. Massif Central, Ardeche etc and the casual attitude to speeding locals and tourists has gone. I'm sure those remote regions also have lots of issues with drink/drug driving also. The French approach has gradually become more and more rigid. What would have got you a serious ticking off 20 years ago will now get your bike or car confiscated.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20170724/france-road-death...

I, like some on here, used to tour France with a casual regard for the speed limits in sparsely populated areas. Those days are now gone and when you look at the issues the French have had with casualty rates you cannot blame them for clamping down.

My point is - wherever you are you need to respect the local motoring laws and local approach to it. If you choose to ignore the laws then you need to understand the consequences.

If the above means that you won't travel through France then I don't think you will be missed.

I'm not sure that's entirely true!

https://www.statista.com/statistics/274179/nationa...

https://www.statista.com/statistics/269684/nationa...

[pec996]

Rushjob said:

Both of the above.
You get your licence back through the post after a week or three.

Regards the return of the license this may or may not happen. In my case nothing sent back, called the DVLA couple of months later who said it was totally normal for them not to bother, £20 and a few days later I had my (new) license back. Suggest just call DVLA once back and get a new one.

[black-k1]

pec996 said:

Rushjob said:

Both of the above.
You get your licence back through the post after a week or three.

Regards the return of the license this may or may not happen. In my case nothing sent back, called the DVLA couple of months later who said it was totally normal for them not to bother, £20 and a few days later I had my (new) license back. Suggest just call DVLA once back and get a new one.

Or call in advance and pay £20 to get a "spare" to hand over to Le Plod? Oh, hang on, you're not supposed to do that!!!

[bad company]

black-k1 said:

Or call in advance and pay £20 to get a "spare" to hand over to Le Plod? Oh, hang on, you're not supposed to do that!!!

Hand Le Plod the old license and carry on driving legally once across a border and out of France.

Sounds good to me.

[smack]

2 days ago I got pulled for 83 in 55 zone in the US on a great road flowing road through the coastal hills by the Pacific Ocean - handed over my UK license, and the Sheriff had one look and said he wasn't going to write it up, but there was Elk and Deer that often ran across the road and this area and to slow down for my own safety.

[bad company]

Bump.

Similar story below. Good reasons to avoid France imo, I just pass through on my way to Germany & Italy:-

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[black-k1]

The Old Gits are just back from what is likely to be our last trip to France for some time. I certainly noticed an increase in police presence on the road. We were lucky that none of our group were caught doing anything illegal. (Ignoring the event outside the primary school as that wasn't road/traffic related!!! ) While none of us were going silly, we were all riding a speeds that were safe but would result in a fine under the current limits and a possible immediate ban when the limit reduces.

Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy etc. can now benefit from our annual attempt to run the petrol pumps dry at the local garage and to drink the hotel out of beer. (The second target was achieved this year by the second day!!!)