Dumb or not ?

[Subyland]

I heard on the French radio a few days ago that a British driver got done doing 142mph in his Ferrari, on his way to the Le Mans. The Gendarmerie gave him a on the spot fine and banned him from driving in France, living his wife to take over. Well, obviously undeterred by his experience, he was done again on the way back, exactly at the same spot, doing just under 140mph!!!

His Ferrari has been impounded and he was scheduled to go to court today...

 

[timskemp]

As a fully paid up, certified and experienced breaker of speed limits, I'd say dumb. It's common knowledge that any British driver caught speeding on the way to a European race meeting will get nailed by the first cop to see them.

They get you in front of the court the next morning, and they don't treat your car nicely in the pound either.

It's a shame we don't return the favour.

 

[Inkyskin]

Indeed he's dumb - I can maybe understand the first time, but twice = dumb.

 

[Carrotchomper]

I heard on the French radio a few days ago that a British driver got done doing 142mph in his Ferrari, on his way to the Le Mans. The Gendarmerie gave him a on the spot fine and banned him from driving in France, living his wife to take over. Well, obviously undeterred by his experience, he was done again on the way back, exactly at the same spot, doing just under 140mph!!!

His Ferrari has been impounded and he was scheduled to go to court today...

What a prat. To me this shows complete disregard for the country's laws and I would be more than happy to see the book thrown at him.

Imagine if we were reading about a French national who brought his Ferrari here, got caught speeding and was disqualified at court the next day- Then got caught again!

I think the reaction would be suitably barbed...

Edited to add...

Dumb

 

[Sp!ke]

This thread conjures up images of the Gumball rally and its contestants.

 

[WLeg]

But how can they prosecute non-residents, but we are unable to ?

As far as I know, most non-UK registered cars cannot be fined or anything if caught via gatso, ANPR, etc....

 

[UnMarked]

But how can they prosecute non-residents, but we are unable to ?

As far as I know, most non-UK registered cars cannot be fined or anything if caught via gatso, ANPR, etc....

Not sure what, if anything, is done via fixed sites such as Gatso/Truvelo cameras et al. If someone is stopped for speeding/other offences then they can be arrested and put before the next available court for sentencing. This does happen but more leeway is given for minor offences (Human Rights comes into play) when dealing with foreign nationals.

 

[timskemp]

But how can they prosecute non-residents, but we are unable to ?

As far as I know, most non-UK registered cars cannot be fined or anything if caught via gatso, ANPR, etc....

Because they keep space in their courts to do so, here it takes weeks to get a slot in a magistrates court for a motoring offence - there it's next morning so you're held overnight, dragged before the beak the next day, fined or banned from driving in the country.

 

[Biscuit]

I drove down to Le mans a few years ago in a mates AM and whilst every village and roundabout seemed to have people in deckchairs watching the parade of british cars blitzing past we were warned again and again about the speed traps.

whilst we had a god run out and "accelerated enthusiastically" at times there were loads of idiots with British plates blatantly racing each other.

DUMB

 

[Rose Chap]

Seems like the French are quite wise and actually police their roads with real policemen, rather than leaving the job to automated systems which lack the sophistication to fine anyone other than Brits in British registered cars.

Well done the French, and just desserts for the foolish Ferrari driver.

 

[UnMarked]

Seems like the French are quite wise and actually police their roads with real policemen, rather than leaving the job to automated systems which lack the sophistication to fine anyone other than Brits in British registered cars.

There's plenty of automated speed cameras in France

 

[st13phil]

What a prat. To me this shows complete disregard for the country's laws and I would be more than happy to see the book thrown at him.

I totally agree. The guy's a jerk for thinking he can drive whilst his licence is suspended and I'd be happy to hear that he's going to be spending a few days sharing a cell with a French Bubba equivalent.

What some Brit's still don't realise is that the French attitude to exceeding the speed limit has changed dramatically in the last 5 years. The days of being able to blast along on French roads at warp speed (almost) with impunity unless you were doing it somewhere stupid have long gone

BTW, French police don't have to put tourists in front of The Beak to suspend them from driving. They are empowered to issue an on-the-spot fine and to confiscate the driver's licence. As it's illegal to drive in France without your Driving Licence in your possession this effectively acts as a ban from driving on French soil. The seized licence is subsequently posted to the address displayed upon it. This is a much more effective way of dealing with the situation than what we do in the UK.

 

[marcos]

My friend had his Aston confiscated and an on the spot fine of 1200 euros on Friday afternoon for doing 250kph on a single carriage road.
Oh how we laughed yesterday when he said he was trying to tell the french policeman that french roads have speed limits but no one ever keeps to the limits and it was a european law that prevented them from arresting him for driving offences.

Apparently he read all this on the internet ages ago and seriously expected the police just to let him carry on with his journey

 

[V8mate]

But how can they prosecute non-residents, but we are unable to ?

As far as I know, most non-UK registered cars cannot be fined or anything if caught via gatso, ANPR, etc....

If you are 'caught' committing a motoring offence on the Continent by an automated device (or a policeman who sees but doesn't stop you), our lovely people at DVLA are fully co-operative in supplying details of registered keeper etc to the foreign authorities, enabling a fine/prosecution.

Why would you expect anything less from a British civil servant?

Are other EU states DVLA equivalents as officious and co-operative when it comes to mainland drivers visiting the UK? What do you think?

 

[Subyland]

Seems like the French are quite wise and actually police their roads with real policemen, rather than leaving the job to automated systems which lack the sophistication to fine anyone other than Brits in British registered cars.

Unlike some other countries, France does not have a dedicated Road Police force. Any patrol/controlling job is done by the Gendarmerie/Police as part of their normal duty.

BTW, French police don't have to put tourists in front of The Beak to suspend them from driving. They are empowered to issue an on-the-spot fine and to confiscate the driver's licence. As it's illegal to drive in France without your Driving Licence in your possession this effectively acts as a ban from driving on French soil

The police or Gendarmerie do NOT have the power to ban you from driving; but the Préfet (local representative of the State)who often accompany them can do so.
When asked you must be able to produce your driving licence. If you have not got it with you then you are still allowed to drive but will get a fine of 90€ and given 5 days to produce your licence into any local police or gendarmerie office.

 

[Subyland]

Update:

The driver is a 39 years old estate agent. He was stopped doing 146mph on his way down. He was fined 750€ and banned temporarily from driving in France. On his way back he was clocked at 141mph. The next day the Tribunal sentenced him to 2 years jail sentence (he actually does not have to go to jail but the sentence will remain on his file), 2 years driving ban in France and a 5000€ fine. The judge was unable to impound the car as it belongs to a club.

 

[pipmk]

Estate Agent,that says it all!

 

[Howard]

Update:

The driver is a 39 years old estate agent. He was stopped doing 146mph on his way down. He was fined 750€ and banned temporarily from driving in France. On his way back he was clocked at 141mph. The next day the Tribunal sentenced him to 2 years jail sentence (he actually does not have to go to jail but the sentence will remain on his file), 2 years driving ban in France and a 5000€ fine. The judge was unable to impound the car as it belongs to a club.

This sounds worryingly like a chap i know ....

Did it say where he was from ?

 

[Subyland]

No it doesn't. It also says that a Porsche driver was clocked doing 157mph and an MB driver 133mph on the same day, as part of a group of 8 caught speeding.

I have to say that you must be pretty dumb to get done as on a Le Mans week end it is obvious there are going to be many speed checks. But, on the other hand, it is good for the coffers of the French gvt which are empty...

 

[Dieselman]

But, on the other hand, it is good for the coffers of the French gvt which are empty...

But surely this can't be true. We've seen many threads on here where only the Uk Government charge this 'Tax' on speeding motorists breaking the law.