Mind your speed
Discussion
I travel to France regularly, and have never had a problem with the friendly Gendarmes.
Apart from last week.
First of all i noticed speed traps everywhere, fixed and hidden.
Unfortunately i missed a critical 90kph one. I was caught at 131kph. no points and i was only charged 90Euros. we had a good chat (i speak fluent french) and at 40kph over they are now allowed to use the 750Euro fine (used to be 50)
Beware.
PS The motorways will be swarming with lasers. The last couple of years we have used the A-roads, no police and took me the same time as the motorway
Apart from last week.
First of all i noticed speed traps everywhere, fixed and hidden.
Unfortunately i missed a critical 90kph one. I was caught at 131kph. no points and i was only charged 90Euros. we had a good chat (i speak fluent french) and at 40kph over they are now allowed to use the 750Euro fine (used to be 50)
Beware.
PS The motorways will be swarming with lasers. The last couple of years we have used the A-roads, no police and took me the same time as the motorway
Well, last week was Easter week and it was well announced in all the papers that there would be a crackdown on speeding. In the Sarthe there was a full page baldly stating that there would be at least 40 mobile radars in the county over Easter. But it is true that speeding is becoming a big no-no here nowadays. Even on a small route out of Le Mans yesterday there was one radar and further on a control at a roundabout. Life isn't easy nowadays.
s2driveruk said:
do you mean generally across the French road network or specifically on the autoroutes.
Are they still signed though...always used to be the case that if you saw a sign there actually was a camera, whereas here we have signs everywhere but not always cameras.
Cheers
David
These were hidden chaps on bikes. I never even saw the laser and was pulled over at the next roundabout, they were in radio contact with each other. Are they still signed though...always used to be the case that if you saw a sign there actually was a camera, whereas here we have signs everywhere but not always cameras.
Cheers
David
can you blame them?
can you imagine the uproar in this country if 80,000 French people came to the Uk for one weekend (lets say silverstone) and drove at (sometimes) rediculous speeds along the M1, A1, m40, and through the lovely villages and couintry roads en route? Knowing that they could almost get away with it...They'd be uproar. And not just from the Daily Mail
We've had it too good for too long I'm afriad. You've only got yourselves to blame (although at the end of June someone will post here how they got stopped and had their car impounded/fined, and its not fair, blah blah blah...)
can you imagine the uproar in this country if 80,000 French people came to the Uk for one weekend (lets say silverstone) and drove at (sometimes) rediculous speeds along the M1, A1, m40, and through the lovely villages and couintry roads en route? Knowing that they could almost get away with it...They'd be uproar. And not just from the Daily Mail
We've had it too good for too long I'm afriad. You've only got yourselves to blame (although at the end of June someone will post here how they got stopped and had their car impounded/fined, and its not fair, blah blah blah...)
williamp said:
can you blame them?
can you imagine the uproar in this country if 80,000 French people came to the Uk for one weekend (lets say silverstone) and drove at (sometimes) rediculous speeds along the M1, A1, m40, and through the lovely villages and couintry roads en route? Knowing that they could almost get away with it...They'd be uproar. And not just from the Daily Mail
We've had it too good for too long I'm afriad. You've only got yourselves to blame (although at the end of June someone will post here how they got stopped and had their car impounded/fined, and its not fair, blah blah blah...)
In fairness, Le Mans is but a drop in the ocean compared to the efforts currently being deployed by the French to stop the locals from speeding. Apparently the French RTA statistics were among the worst in Europe, although I think that was mainly as a result of accidents of rural roads rather than the autoroutes.can you imagine the uproar in this country if 80,000 French people came to the Uk for one weekend (lets say silverstone) and drove at (sometimes) rediculous speeds along the M1, A1, m40, and through the lovely villages and couintry roads en route? Knowing that they could almost get away with it...They'd be uproar. And not just from the Daily Mail
We've had it too good for too long I'm afriad. You've only got yourselves to blame (although at the end of June someone will post here how they got stopped and had their car impounded/fined, and its not fair, blah blah blah...)
We may get caught up in their rather zealous practices if they know to expect a bunch of cars who are likely to misbehave at certain times of the year, but the reality is that we experience it for but one weekend a year, whereas the locals get to 'enjoy' it week in, week out.
We noticed it when we went skiing last year for example, with more police cars present and a few less Parisian drivers trying to break the land speed record on their way to the slopes.
But I do tend to agree with the basic premise of your comments, namely that we wouldn't tolerate people driving like loons in the UK, so we shouldn't expect to be able to do the same in France. Although, French autoroutes do generally seem to be quieter and of a better quality than the majority of the road network in the UK, so the temptation is still there....
Nick M said:
williamp said:
can you blame them?
can you imagine the uproar in this country if 80,000 French people came to the Uk for one weekend (lets say silverstone) and drove at (sometimes) rediculous speeds along the M1, A1, m40, and through the lovely villages and couintry roads en route? Knowing that they could almost get away with it...They'd be uproar. And not just from the Daily Mail
We've had it too good for too long I'm afriad. You've only got yourselves to blame (although at the end of June someone will post here how they got stopped and had their car impounded/fined, and its not fair, blah blah blah...)
French autoroutes do generally seem to be quieter and of a better quality than the majority of the road network in the UK, so the temptation is still there.... can you imagine the uproar in this country if 80,000 French people came to the Uk for one weekend (lets say silverstone) and drove at (sometimes) rediculous speeds along the M1, A1, m40, and through the lovely villages and couintry roads en route? Knowing that they could almost get away with it...They'd be uproar. And not just from the Daily Mail
We've had it too good for too long I'm afriad. You've only got yourselves to blame (although at the end of June someone will post here how they got stopped and had their car impounded/fined, and its not fair, blah blah blah...)
Just read the local paper with the results of the Easter weekend inside. 799 speeding fines and several licences taken off people on the spot for speeds in excess of 50kph over the prevailing limit. That's just here in the Sarthe; I hate to think how much the government took off people nationwide.
GAZA62 said:
This points business is this the case for any speeding offence in France or just taking the piss and going way to quick as i normaly drive around 10-15 mph over the limit on the autoroute when its 85mph and never had any probs but not been to Le-Mans since 2008.
The tolerance has been reduced to 3% with th new radars. I posted elsewhere that I was flashed at 7.15am in March - when it was not even daylight - by a mobile radar while travelling at 96kph in a 90kph limit. No one is taking the piss as you put it, just enforcing the law. Speed at your peril nowadays in France.lowdrag said:
GAZA62 said:
This points business is this the case for any speeding offence in France or just taking the piss and going way to quick as i normaly drive around 10-15 mph over the limit on the autoroute when its 85mph and never had any probs but not been to Le-Mans since 2008.
The tolerance has been reduced to 3% with th new radars. I posted elsewhere that I was flashed at 7.15am in March - when it was not even daylight - by a mobile radar while travelling at 96kph in a 90kph limit. No one is taking the piss as you put it, just enforcing the law. Speed at your peril nowadays in France.When i said taking the piss that was not aimed at the Gendarme but driving way over the limit.
Vvroom said:
Heading down from Calais for LM09 we passed several of the cheeky feckers in camoflague hiding near bushes with radar guns.
Usual rules apply though chaps. Give it some beans, nothing stupid and slow down for bridges and slip roads (where they lurk).
What was that you said??Usual rules apply though chaps. Give it some beans, nothing stupid and slow down for bridges and slip roads (where they lurk).
Paulbav said:
Vvroom said:
Heading down from Calais for LM09 we passed several of the cheeky feckers in camoflague hiding near bushes with radar guns.
Usual rules apply though chaps. Give it some beans, nothing stupid and slow down for bridges and slip roads (where they lurk).
What was that you said??Usual rules apply though chaps. Give it some beans, nothing stupid and slow down for bridges and slip roads (where they lurk).
Damn iPhone (there's NOT an app for that!)
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