Advice regarding driving to France and Switzerland

[MikeInWimbledon]

But your can't leave the scene till its fixed... so going to the boot to get a bulb is easier than waiting and hour to get one. It's not like it takes up space or costs a fortune and you will need them one day.
Unfortunately a lots of the time I'm there its for car stuff like LeMans..... where the police really don't "have better things to do" and are out purely to get track visitors and it seems they are even keener since brexit. A few years back I went on my Blade and pulled out of a restaurant having forgotten to turn my headlights back on (mandatory on bikes)... the cop spotted me and although I instantly realised and turned them on it was all the excuse he needed to stop the whole group and go through all the bikes with a fine tooth comb.
Later on the same trip my boss was stopped at 5kph over the limit and we had to wait while he was escorted to the cash point. Funny thing was we were all going much faster than him but they considered his speeding worse as he had his son on the back!

For sure, I meant to replace a duff bulb if it goes while you're away from home, not leaving it until les flics pull you over.

Not that I ever have to actually replace bulbs on my elderly motors. Can't even remember when I last replaced a bulb.

 

[BTB 500]

For sure, I meant to replace a duff bulb if it goes while you're away from home, not leaving it until les flics pull you over.

Not that I ever have to actually replace bulbs on my elderly motors. Can't even remember when I last replaced a bulb.

I have bulbs go on the Vito quite regularly ... brake/sidelight ones most often but also number plate lights, front sidelights and occasionally headlights. I've always carried spare bulbs in it - you need a Torx screwdriver as well but this is helpfully included in the toolkit

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I have bulbs go on the Vito quite regularly ... brake/sidelight ones most often but also number plate lights, front sidelights and occasionally headlights. I've always carried spare bulbs in it - you need a Torx screwdriver as well but this is helpfully included in the toolkit

I don't get out much.

Mileage / usage is probably the big difference. I only clock 12k a year, on elderly but low mileage motors

 

[190]

Here's a thought.

For those of us who still have Halogen bulbs and have replaced them with night breakers etc, just keep the old bulbs and put them in the box that the night breakers came in.

That's exactly what I did except for the fatal flaw that I put the box on the top shelf in the garage instead of in the boot.

Having done it once, I also know how to fit them. Fiddly but doable with no dismantling.

 

[BTB 500]

I don't get out much.

Mileage / usage is probably the big difference. I only clock 12k a year, on elderly but low mileage motors

Yep quite likely, although the Vito has only averaged a relatively modest 9,400 miles a year.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Yep quite likely, although the Vito has only averaged a relatively modest 9,400 miles a year.

It adds up. Averages of six and two on mine. I drive them more than their owners did.

(Being a good millennial I've reduced my annual mileage to save the planet.

Helped by flying thousand of miles, getting some kind of delivery almost daily, eating Pret lunches, drinking pumpkin lattes, wearing fast fashion and eating way more food than I need.)

 

[ALFAitalia]

Here's a thought.

For those of us who still have Halogen bulbs and have replaced them with night breakers etc, just keep the old bulbs and put them in the box that the night breakers came in.

That's exactly what I did except for the fatal flaw that I put the box on the top shelf in the garage instead of in the boot.

Having done it once, I also know how to fit them. Fiddly but doable with no dismantling.

Just what I do.....largely because those high performance bulbs have a much shorter life....!

 

[Trickythemerc]

Merc have quite a clever idea to prolong bulb life. When the lights first come on the voltage ramps up to 12 volts from a lower voltage. Having said that my Sprinters used to eat bulbs for fun ???

 

[PXW]

For sure, I meant to replace a duff bulb if it goes while you're away from home, not leaving it until les flics pull you over.

Not that I ever have to actually replace bulbs on my elderly motors. Can't even remember when I last replaced a bulb.

A blown bulb is a rare thing nowadays - but my last one was in a 2012 BMW 520d…in France. The headlamp bulb (and yes, I had a spare with me) is a cinch to replace - you just crank the steering to full lock and open the flap in the wheel arch, then reach in and take the old bulb out and replace it. It’s really easy, if you have fingers that are the width of pencils, about 10 inches long and have four articulated joints. I had no chance, though the surgeon I was travelling with did eventually manage to get the thing fitted. All LEDs for me since then!

 

[Petrol Pete]

EU member states no longer have access to your home address via DVLA, so they can't post any speeding fine to you. Parking fines? "Probably" the same, but with the added risk of a Denver Boot, or tow-truck.

But, if one gets stopped by the police, they can take immediate payment.

More than in the UK, you can unwittingly break the speed limits more easily than in the UK. We're quite diligent and bureaucratic in having clear signs and Brits know the general rules, such as street lamps and speed limit repeater disks.. The French? Not so much.

Rentals: a different matter. The rental company gets the fine, pays it, and then charges you on your credit card.

Rental car fines also attract a 'handling charge' from the hire company .....ask me how I know

 

[Petrol Pete]

All very interesting advice. Particularly interesting re speed cameras and fines not making their way to your address anymore Presumably same with parking fines?



So I got a couple through the post after a driving holiday, France and Spain, pre Brexit, I thought if i didn't pay it then yes they're not going to pursue me but on the other hand my car (if still owned) could be flashed up on whatever their version of anpr is and then I'd be rogered? Or was my thinking complete bollocks? Is ignoring still unwise if in a hire car?

They (usually) can not be ignored in a hire car . I have had a few fines over the years in the EU and Denmark . The Danish one was a simple bank transfer but the Belgian one was a PITA (only 50 Euro) but I was not able to pay it online without attracting a big bank charge due to the type of account in Belgium, luckily I went back for work and one of the locals paid it through his account .

The problem getting a fine in a hire car can be time . Example: You get a 50Euro fine which doubles to 100Euro within 14 days and so on... the delay of the fine getting to you through the rental car admin can put you in this position . Then they send another fine with the new amount to the rental company and the cycle starts again.

On one of my work trips to Canada I had returned home, got all my expense and invoices paid only for (about a month later) all of the toll road charges from the car hire company to appear on my CC bill

 

[190]

Just what I do.....largely because those high performance bulbs have a much shorter life....!

There is no free lunch with higher performance bulbs is there. They emit whiter light only because the filament runs hotter and therefore with a shorter life.

Figures from Osram's data sheets from standard OEM bulb then lowest and highest in the range of performance bulbs .

The first number is when 6% of bulbs will have failed and the 2nd number when 63% will have failed. So Nighbreakers have less than half the life of OEM and Silverstars are a reasonable compromise with much less life reduction.

OEM 330/550 hours

Silverstar 250/450 hours

Nightbreaker unlimited 150/250 hours

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Watch out for the mad drivers, they will not give up an inch (25.4mm) of "their" road.
Seen more accidents in a week than a whole year back home.

Good mirrors essential with a rhd car.

Try and get a peage account to pass the tolls more easily.

Remember UK badge, spare bulbs, high visibility and triangle as pointed out plus first aid kit.
I always like small fire extinguisher too.

 

[AnnasMerc83]

I don't think I've ever seen another vehicle in France other than my own displaying a Crit'Air sticker!

I had a wee panic last summer when I realised we didn’t register for these ‘ulez’ type stickers for any city across France/germany or Switzerland.
So I emailed the German transport department (was in Germany at the time) in a tizz, worried I’ll be fined months later, they sarcastically wrote back that they do not have ANPR and I would only be fined if a police officer decided to stop me and be a jobsworth.

I can confirm the same was true for France & Switzerland!

We also did not have any of the stuff in the car, had no issues avoiding motorways (set your Google maps in your phone to avoid motorways & tolls, et voilà!) and did quite a bit of speeding with no issues, particularly in Switzerland (nice straight roads).

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I had a wee panic last summer when I realised we didn’t register for these ‘ulez’ type stickers for any city across France/germany or Switzerland.
So I emailed the German transport department (was in Germany at the time) in a tizz, worried I’ll be fined months later, they sarcastically wrote back that they do not have ANPR and I would only be fined if a police officer decided to stop me and be a jobsworth.

I can confirm the same was true for France & Switzerland!

We also did not have any of the stuff in the car, had no issues avoiding motorways (set your Google maps in your phone to avoid motorways & tolls, et voilà!) and did quite a bit of speeding with no issues, particularly in Switzerland (nice straight roads).

As discussed earlier, there are far more speed cameras across Europe than there used to be, and the EU member states do happily fine drivers from other EU countries for speeding thanks to shared address databases. They can’t fine Brits because they don’t have access to the UK addresses any more.

You will also see your number plate displayed on some overhead gantries as a warning when you’ve been speeding. It’s not everywhere but you will see it near cities, for example driving through Lyon on the Route du Soleil.

The good thing? The days of the 160kph Belgian Audi buzzing through France on its way to a Spanish sunbed have long gone, even if they can do three figure mph on camera less short stretches.

 

[st13phil]

and the EU member states do happily fine drivers from other EU countries for speeding thanks to shared address databases. They can’t fine Brits because they don’t have access to the UK addresses any more.

Switzerland is the oddball in all this, as they aren’t a member of the EU so never had the EU countries access to DVLA records through the data sharing agreement. Instead, Switzerland has long had a procedure where they use a UK company to access DVLA keeper records and then pursue civil cases for debt recovery in UK courts.

While some do “get lucky” exceeding the posted limit in Switzerland, it really is one of the worst places in Europe to do so. Camera fines are pursued back to the UK, and if stopped at the time licences can be confiscated on the spot and short-term bans imposed making driving impossible. I really do recommend sticking to the limit in Switzerland.

 

[Dippo]

I have an outstanding fine for speeding in a hire car in Austria in the late 1970s. Do you think it's safe for me to go back there yet?

 

[markjay]

I have an outstanding fine for speeding in a hire car in Austria in the late 1970s. Do you think it's safe for me to go back there yet?

Don't ignore it - it might come back one day like a boomerang....

 

[Dippo]

Don't ignore it - it might come back one day like a boomerang....

I said Austria, not Australia!

 

[markjay]

I said Austria, not Australia!

Yes, I misread it