Before starting our current six month European trip (Schengen rules don’t apply), I was quite worried about payload because six months is quite a long time away and needs become a little more weighty. 3-4 week jollies - fine we can manage the woefully inadequate 3.5 all up weight limit and avoid the need to slap angle morts stickers/magnets on our van. We’ve spend quite a lot of time in France over the years and as previously mentioned here, when these stickers were made compulsory for vehicles over 3.5 tons, many of our favourite Aires became technically inaccessible because of the coincidently introduced road signs excluding traffic over 3.5 tons. We’ve seen dozens of motorhomes obviously over 3.5 tons proudly displaying their angles morts stickers (some even displayed in the right places on their vehicles!), but wondered when the locals/local gendarmerie will cotton on to the fact that overweight motorhomes are using roads which invalidate any
insurance should a collision occur?
Luckily our friendly municipal tip has friendly staff who helped me not only with all up weight but front and back axle allowances as well. Our Chausson 630 typically had a woefully inadequate and exaggerated payload. I suspect many other manufacturers play the same game. SvTech up plated us to 4 tons at a reasonable price because someone ahead of us had done the same thing on our particular choice of vehicle so the number crunching had already been done. Like many people here I suspect C1 licences abound so weight up plating isn’t an issue. Very simple to down plate should health issues dictate.
I don’t display angle morts stickers for the following reasons.
1. We have a Mororhome with a footprint no larger than all others plated at 3.5 tons. They are deemed safe to be allowed on the roads without any warning sign requirement. Since March we have recently crossed our 20th European border and have been searched once leaving Turkey to the island of Chios (Greece), token search. Chios to Piraeus was just like the Mersey ferry (ok a 9 hour Mersey Ferry
). We were stopped about 20 miles into Sweden near Mo I Rana by border police, politely questioned, lovely guys nice conversation then waved on. No questions about angle morts and no search.
2. I’d sooner worry about
insurance validity whilst in running order than a European directives dictating a sticker requirement that may or may not actually apply. I proudly display my GBM sticker on the back of our van in the knowledge that we have never belonged to Europe, we don’t need to change to a U.K. sticker just because some spiteful EU directive considered GB offensive to people from N.I. Were you offended Trev? I thought you were from the U.K. anyway?
.
By the by we met an English couple who put their motorhome in storage in Bulgaria so they could go visit family. When they returned the owner of the storage facility refused to take money from them because he thought their new U.K. sticker meant they were Ukrainian. Not the first time Europeans on this trip have mentioned this to us - perhaps a great time for U.K. travelers?
3. I’d sooner pay a fine for not displaying the angles morts sticker/magnetic encumbrance than have our
insurance company renege on cover because of weight infringement either by being overweight on a road leading to a desired location, or being stopped and weighed only to find that the lovely salesman who sold us a machine capable of travelling to the moon and back was a little bit of a fibber.
4. It’s easy and not outrageously expensive to down plate again, could even be a selling point depending on prospective buyers needs.
In Greece right now, I’ll keep you posted should any officious border person question why we aren’t displaying angle morts stickers/magnetic plates in entirely the exact places according to the specific EU directive.