French speeding ticket GRrrrr

Back in the days when speed traps were a Policeman with a hand held radar gun, if I was travelling a long distance in South Africa, I used to religiously stick to the speed limit. Then, when a looney flew past me, I used to leave a big gap but accelerate up to his speed and follow him. that meant I made good time but he was the one clocked and pulled over because the radar gun was only reset after he had been dealt with. :)

I drove down to Bloemfontein (about a 12 hour drive, observing the speed limits) to watch the British Lions play the Springboks and shaved 2 or 3 hours off the driving time with those tactics.

Nowadays I consider speeding motorists to be stupid idiots. :eek: ... but I keep quiet about it. :lol-061:
 
I lived in South Africa for a long time in the 70s and 80s and I recall that in urban areas they had speed traps called gatsometers. These utilised two rubber hoses a fixed distance apart which recorded the vehicle time and hence speed.

The trick with these if speeding was to brake heavily to avoid a dog/cat and rip the hoses! Allegedly ...
 
colinmd said:
If the government wishes to sort it out then fines can be issued, so it is reciprocal, but there's an even easier way of not getting fines, don't break the law.
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antiquesam said:
Or the speed limits.
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It's easy to be a smug know-it-all but we're talking about doing 50 mph on a main trunk road. It's a blatant money making exercise at the expense of the motorist, not a safety measure, and is one of the main reasons why France goes up in flames every weekend.
 
Convert in your head. Within a few hours you'll know the limits instinctively.
 
I put my old (the only one I have)and not updated sat nav on the dash.
Set it on map and use this as a speedo.
It is in a better position for me to view and is accurate!
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We do the same, set the TomTom to Kph and off we go.
 
Just pay up, its not a matter of being smug its fact. If I get caught I pay, yes you can grumble cos you got caught but its everyones own fault and at least there are no points on your license.

I dont see lots of posts about getting speeding fines in the UK, why is this?
 
Guess what I got today?

Speeding ticket from November 1st in France.

45 Euro.

I was doing 47.2mph in a 43.5mph zone. (translated from kph obviously)

Paid my bill without any moaning.
 
mossypossy said:
Speeding ticket from November 1st in France.

45 Euro.

I was doing 47.2mph in a 43.5mph zone. (translated from kph obviously)

Paid my bill without any moaning.
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Bout time the gendarmerie caught up with you high speed merchants.


Dezi :cheers:
 
***** said:
I have a couple of extra comments.

Bearing in mind, I believe a private company are responsible for speed cameras and collecting the fines

I wonder if the fines are just coming to the UK (do it now while they can)

On the other hand, bear in mind that France is a Transit Country for Dutch, Belgiums, Germans etc
There must be thousands of speeding offences and a nice money maker!

Also I have read on a another forum about Scam fines!

Just thoughts!
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To my knowledge non of us are au fait with French law and more pertinent legitimate defences

If it is true the system is privatised I would imagine the set up is water tight , plenty of folk in the UK can prosecute you other than the Police, agents working on behalf of the local authorities, Environment agency etc

My own thoughts if you don't pay up, next time you visit could see you arrested detained fined and in worse circumstances vehicles being seized.

Even if you change vans, Are the reg nos and passport numbers logged at the time of travel through the ports ?

I get the part re scams though some of the domestic ones are clever why people fall for it I suppose.

It does seem strange the UK don't operate a reciprocal arrangement for miscreants speeding here

My thoughts

Channa
 
shaunr68 said:
It's easy to be a smug know-it-all but we're talking about doing 50 mph on a main trunk road. It's a blatant money making exercise at the expense of the motorist, not a safety measure, and is one of the main reasons why France goes up in flames every weekend.
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I'm as fallible as the next person, but to get a fine in France your speedo (for most vehicles) would need to be reading 10kph over in a 80kph. Most of the time I have the satnav on and it bleeps as soon as I exceed the limit, I know these are also not infallible, but if you can't judge your speed without constant reference to the speedo then it's a good aid.
 
colinmd said:
I'm as fallible as the next person, but to get a fine in France your speedo (for most vehicles) would need to be reading 10kph over in a 80kph. Most of the time I have the satnav on and it bleeps as soon as I exceed the limit, I know these are also not infallible, but if you can't judge your speed without constant reference to the speedo then it's a good aid.
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Hi Colin, not me I was doing 89 kph in an 80 zone. That's 55 mph on a trunk road, I'm hardly a speed king in a 2.0 Peugeot Boxer. It's a blatant scam and another backdoor tax on the motorist and I applaud the Froggies for burning and trashing speed cameras across the country every week. Perhaps if the speed limits were more realistic, there weren't so many cameras and they were situated in problem areas rather than being a blatant cash cow, the motorist might have more respect for them and the authorities.
 
shaunr68 said:
Hi Colin, not me I was doing 89 kph in an 80 zone. That's 55 mph on a trunk road, I'm hardly a speed king in a 2.0 Peugeot Boxer. It's a blatant scam and another backdoor tax on the motorist and I applaud the Froggies for burning and trashing speed cameras across the country every week. Perhaps if the speed limits were more realistic, there weren't so many cameras and they were situated in problem areas rather than being a blatant cash cow, the motorist might have more respect for them and the authorities.
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A lot of main roads in Derbyshire are 50mph limit Shaun, they have been for years. Some have speed cameras and others have average speed cameras as well. It may be where you are they are more sensible but it isnt only France I can assure you :(
 
Apologies if this has already been mentioned. The French authorities have announced that they are replacing older cameras with the newer, taller, slimmer, less visible and more tamper proof ones, as well as adding more. The Gilet jaune protest has cost them 660 million euros, so they are adopting tougher measures. Enjoy!
 
The good and the bad.

To anyone complaining about French speeding fines,I suggest they tell us how much they have saved by using free Aires or do they only see the bad.
 
I have said before if you do not want a fine do not speed, there are plenty of signs telling you the speed limit if you ignore them and go over, you only have yourself to blame. You do not set the speed limit for any roads.
 
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