Angles Morts

winks said:
As always, the law is a total bloody mess and,I suspect, cooked up by someone paying lip service to road safety. Is there no longer a requirement for folk to be responsible for their own safety and conduct on the road?

Interestingly I note that the the article from the fleet publication refers only to commercial vehicles. Our van is PHGV but is is not a commercial vehicle and the fixing of these stickers, it could be argued, mark it out such to French authorities. On the insurance front, to my mind, if I have been honest and open when I arranged the policy I'd expect to be treated in accordance with the terms of the policy. I'd still have to keep an eye on the 3.5t restrictions because we are plated at 4.5t, so the access to aires could be problematic.

As has been said, if you get pulled by a zealot it could be a problem ...

Cheers

H
Click to expand...
The fleet publication is presumably targeted at operators of (heavy) commercial vehicles, so refers to those vehicles. If one goes back to the French legislation, it is quite clear that it applies to virtually all vehicles with an authorised total weight in excess of 3.5 tonnes with just a few exceptions (agricultural and forestry vehicles, maintenance vehicles for motorways and (non-urban) dual carriageways, snowploughs and salt-spreaders...).
 
Hi after following this thread and others on the forum. I seem to find that it does not matter what country. What law. The members choose which one to obey. Ie. That’s a stupid rule law I will not obey that one. Applies to headlamp beam adjusters too. I personally think laws are made For us to obey liking or disliking them Why should the police etc. bother with crimes. Obviously the person that broke the law did not like that law. So did not obey it. The saying I’ve been doing it for years never been stopped. Springs to mind. That was my saying till 10 years ago and I was stopped breathalyser 0750 in the morning positive arrested. Taken to station charged etc. 0903 I requested a breathalisyer test. Passed given keys and allowed to drive away one hour thirteen minutes between drunk to sober lost licence for a year You only need to be caught not how many times you have not been caught. Brian
 
That’s very unlucky Brian, but drink driving is on another level. Silly rules quite different. Rules are for obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men. Well said Douglas.
 
Must be me then. Silly rules laws etc. if I am visiting some one or a country or a forum I believe it is only correct to obey there rules laws no matter what I think. For eg. Phillip da boss says on these forums don’t do this or that makes no difference what I think. It’s his and if I want to use the forum I obey. No such thing as silly minor major. Law is law. Everyone has a choice. Obey or ignore. Bet when if they get caught they don’t say oh well my fault. No the first thing is. It’s a stupid law what idiot made it. Brian
 
Crossed into France this morning from Germany via Breisach. Stopping at the lovely Aire in Neuf-Brisach. Lovely UNESCO town with a free spacious Aire right in the centre of the town. Did some exploring and noticed all roads in are 3.5 t weight restricted.

These are our neighbours for the night - all French registered and most I’m guessing just by looking at them are over 3.5 t. None displaying Angle Mort stickers! 429A96DB-027F-40C2-9A54-DE39C3A7A6EF.jpeg470FE9B9-AD27-4FD3-AF36-66979135DAB7.jpeg6B52A24D-10E2-404A-B617-BB39148B0922.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Local Gendarmes have been circling without interest. This is the view to our van from the local Gendarmerie.

50957201-4FDA-43A7-A4A0-65BADAA62221.jpeg
 
Most camping cars over 3.5tonnes will have their weight plates visible from the kerb. I doubt any of those are over 3500kg.
 
Snapster said:
Most camping cars over 3.5tonnes will have their weight plates visible from the kerb. I doubt any of those are over 3500kg.
Click to expand...

We couldn’t keep our weight down to 3.5 given the duration of our trip and equipment needed, not to mention inevitable weight gain (both personal and acquired tat 🤣).

Three of these vans have footprints that dwarf ours and there is no possible way they could be lighter than us.

You make an interesting point about 3.5t + camping cars having weight plates visible from the kerb. Where exactly would they be displayed?
 
Usually displayed by the front wheel on the body. You’ll see commercial vehicles and trailers with them too.
 
Thanks for that, I’ll keep an eye out for them and get back. We were told by SvTech that we had to display ours under the bonnet next to the original plate. Invisible from the road. Do you think this is just a British thing and that continental camping cars are instructed to display their plates by the front wheel on the body?
 
My Burstner has its weight plate displayed on the body just behind the drivers door - 3500kg - clearly visible to all and sundry

the plate under the bonnet shows it’s 4100kg since I had it uprated, invisible to all.
 
SimonM said:
My Burstner has its weight plate displayed on the body just behind the drivers door - 3500kg - clearly visible to all and sundry

the plate under the bonnet shows it’s 4100kg since I had it uprated, invisible to all.
Click to expand...

That’s interesting, invisible like mine. Again it would be interesting to know if the same thing applies on the continent.
 
Snapster said:
Usually displayed by the front wheel on the body. You’ll see commercial vehicles and trailers with them too.
Click to expand...
I wonder if owners notifie their insurers when they uprate their weight or ignore that as well. What is the problem with displaying a Morts sticker most motorhomes have graphics of some sort
 
**** said:
Thanks for that, I’ll keep an eye out for them and get back. We were told by SvTech that we had to display ours under the bonnet next to the original plate. Invisible from the road. Do you think this is just a British thing and that continental camping cars are instructed to display their plates by the front wheel on the body?
Click to expand...
It’s a separate plate on the body. There is still a vin plate from the manufacturer ( Fiat) under the bonnet, the same as the U.K. Mine also has a vin plate from Burstner on the passenger door pillar.
 
witzend said:
I wonder if owners notifie their insurers when they uprate their weight or ignore that as well. What is the problem with displaying a Morts sticker most motorhomes have graphics of some sort
Click to expand...

We did inform our insurer about up plating. Problem with displaying Morts stickers - I think this has been covered pretty well, some seem to prefer magnetic alternatives so that when not in France they can easily be removed, this kind of says to me that their unsightly nature aren’t favoured. I certainly couldn’t compare them with motorhome graphics!

Again, in my opinion, you’d stand out like a sore thumb displaying Morts stickers turning up to an Aire like the one we arrived at today, trundling into town on roads all displaying 3.5t signs. Again I’ll say there’s no way at least three of the vans in this Aire tonight are running at 3.5 tonnes of below, yet none are displaying the stickers, all of them French registered.
 
Snapster said:
It’s a separate plate on the body. There is still a vin plate from the manufacturer ( Fiat) under the bonnet, the same as the U.K. Mine also has a vin plate from Burstner on the passenger door pillar.
Click to expand...

Both lower weight plates invisible then? So which manufacturers display their actual plate rating visible from the kerb? All very confusing!
 
I cannot recall seeing my weight plate being visible on my MH. It's an Autotrail Comanche which is 4.15t empty and 5t fully laden.

I'll have to have a closer look but as I've washed the blimming thing enough times I thought I would have noticed it by now.
 
Last edited:
no i have a comanche and no weight plate visible from outside plate is under the bonnet
 
  • Thank You
Reactions: GMJ
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top