France Speed Enforcement

[219]

It is standard practice also in cases of sovereignity change, i.e. legislation that says that by default all old laws remain in place until specifically changed or revoked by the new regime.

The same will apply after October. There will most likely be an act of Parliament that will say that all current EU rules and standards will remain in place by default until changed or revoked by the UK. Otherwise we will have mayhem as off day one.

We already have mayhem now !

 

[219]

The last couple of times we visited France I noticed that French registered cars were diligently obeying the speed limits on the Autoroute which I took as a sign that they must be well policed because as a rule the French tend to treat rules as a mere guideline.

" the obedience of fools , and the guidance of wise men "

 

[chesterpiglet]

"We" are travelling in their Country so if you don't like their rules don't come rather than spend time trying to circumnavigate them. Believe me you don't want to come into contact with French Bureaucracy at any level & I speak from experience. Yes, they can confiscate your vehicle & the fines over here are Draconian all for the sake of just obeying the rules. Persecution of the Motorist here is no different to the UK except over here you have to be particularly casual to get caught. As for the Drink Driving Spot checks they have always been constant in my experience, at a particular spot in a Village anytime of the year. The only way to beat it is not drink & the limit here is less than the UK. Anyone thinking of speeding in Switzerland will wish they'd been caught in France. My Mother in Law was just a few km over the limit in a small Swiss village & was fined 900Chf or £720 & banned for 3 months.

 

[st13phil]

Anyone thinking of speeding in Switzerland will wish they'd been caught in France. My Mother in Law was just a few km over the limit in a small Swiss village & was fined 900Chf or £720 & banned for 3 months.

Good point. Switzerland went bonkers on speed enforcement about 10 years ago. Lovely country, horrible attitude towards motor vehicles.

 

[E55BOF]

You really don't want to upset the Gendarmes here......... & even if you know you have done nothing wrong just apologise & repeat many times.

Works in this country too, especially if you HAVE done something wrong. Just ask My Mate Dave...

I wonder what the French would do to someone caught doing 123 mph on the Autoroute?

 

[markjay]

A few years ago, a friend had his S350 seized by French police in Paris.

He bought the car two months earlier, and there's some paperwork that needs to be sorted within 90 days of purchase, and which he forgot to do.

He was unceremoniously removed from the car, and only got it back after producing the relevant paperwork and paying a fine.

No 'soft touch' policing in France...

 

[C43AMG]

In Germany too. Received a fine for 150 Euro's a couple of weeks ago.

 

[219]

the limit here is less than the UK.

Unless my arithmetic is wrong 0.5g/L is the same as 50mg/100mL , so it is the same .

 

[219]

A few years ago, a friend had his S350 seized by French police in Paris.

He bought the car two months earlier, and there's some paperwork that needs to be sorted within 90 days of purchase, and which he forgot to do.

He was unceremoniously removed from the car, and only got it back after producing the relevant paperwork and paying a fine.

No 'soft touch' policing in France...

I wonder how the gendarmerie would deal with cyclists wheelying in between cars down the Champs Elysee , and round the Arc De Triumphe ?

 

[PXW]

Unless my arithmetic is wrong 0.5g/L is the same as 50mg/100mL , so it is the same .

It is in Scotland but in England Wales and NI the limit is still 80mg/100ml not 50.

 

[219]

It is in Scotland but in England Wales and NI the limit is still 80mg/100ml not 50.

I keep forgetting that .

I think much of Europe is 50mg , so perhaps it will come .

Interestingly , I was bemused to read , following the latest case of airline pilots being found intoxicated before flying out of Glasgow , that the limit for them is only 20mg/100ml .

 

[Swotty]

The limit here in La Belle France is indeed 50mg/100ml ..... or 5/8 the UK limit.

Think conversion kms to miles .... multiply by 5/8.

 

[219]

The limit here in La Belle France is indeed 50mg/100ml ..... or 5/8 the UK limit.

Think conversion kms to miles .... multiply by 5/8.

Well , part of the UK , we have been at 50mg for many years here .

 

[rf065]

If this thread highlights anything, it's the lack of awareness of what "The UK" actually stands for.

 

[paulr2006]

Good point.

I was reminded of other urban myths such as 'I walked into a pub in Wales and they all started talking Welsh because they could tell that I was English'

Actually not an Urban Myth! back in 1976 (Yes I know I'm old) we worked down in Wales for 8 weeks. For the first week in the pub everyone was speaking Welsh, then one night I bought the Barman a drink and within minutes they were speaking english! which continued for the next few weeks!

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Actually not an Urban Myth! back in 1976 (Yes I know I'm old) we worked down in Wales for 8 weeks. For the first week in the pub everyone was speaking Welsh, then one night I bought the Barman a drink and within minutes they were speaking english! which continued for the next few weeks!

I went to a pub in England this lunchtime, the cheeky twats spoke to me in English even though it was owned by a Welshman.

 

[219]

I went to a pub in England this lunchtime, the cheeky twats spoke to me in English even though it was owned by a Welshman.

A small thing that bugs me is , whenever I travel abroad , where possible I try to learn a bit of the lingo and to speak to people in their own language, even if just a few words .
Although I never studied German , I lived there for about a year , so have a reasonable ability to converse , yet if I go up to a hotel reception and greet them in German, they more often than not reply in English - I’m sure they feel they’re being courteous, but it makes me feel ‘why did I bother’ especially when others complain about Brits EXPECTING everyone else to speak English.

I’ve never been to France , but did six years of French at school and got a B for my Higher , so even now 45 years on could still make a stab at it ; and my schoolboy Latin definitely helped while in Italy , although I did find myself conversing in German with a couple of Italian people .

I also tried to learn Russian in the late 80’s but gave up , not least due to struggling with the Cyrillic alphabet and characters that looked the same ( our C is their S for example ) , having been to Holland many times , Dutch , and its sounds , is a continuing mystery to me , and I’m sorry but so are Welsh and Scots Gaelic .

 

[jonboyE63]

I've driven through France many times & until 2 years ago I never encountered a serious problem - me & some like minded friends headed to the Alps & the Dolomites to drive the mountain passes - always good fun. Last time we went out we got spotted by the local Gendarmes doing 130+kph in a 90kph zone - they set a road block up in the next village, pulled us all over (5 cars) - 3 of the group got 90 euro fines & myself and another driver got the 90euro fine & a 3 month ban - they took both our licences & we were escorted (blues & twos) to the local police station where our cars were impounded...not an ideal start to the trip...
We were only banned from France so the 3 remaining drivers drove to Switzerland, left the cars & then we trained it back to France to collect the other two cars...…
Needless to say I haven't really gone for it in France since - one thing of interest though was that one of the Gendarmes told us to keep to the D roads if we wanted to drive quickly in France as they're largely un-policed...

 

[ringway]

I just wouldn't risk speeding.

I don't want any French letters being pushed through my letterbox.

 

[DITTRICH]

I remember getting stopped for speeding a couple of times - in Russia - but I always managed to get off, mostly because the Russian computers at the police station could only deal with cyrillic and it was just too much trouble. I did once leave a box of chocolates in the waiting room of the police station by mistake ;-) but never paid them a single rouble.