I have no problem with the French police upholding their own laws as their job dictates. At the end of the day you must abide by the laws of the country you are in, even the obscure ones.

If a copper over here found a loaded handgun in the boot of some French blokes car I have no doubt that they would confiscate it at the very least. In France it could have been fine to own and carry the gun in your car. I know it's a bit of an extreme example but the principle is there.

I seem to remember a post a while back on this topic and someone was forced to reverse over their radar detector or face a huge fine

They're still, and will forever be, Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys though

Mark

 

Just s small point that may be of interest but the polis fine you in Frnace it is the maximum fine that can be subject to a magistrates review. So it may be possible that you would be due a refund of some of the fine, the problem is that you will have to enquire and claim any refund.

 

Anyone happen to know if the AA/RAC list on the 'european travel' part of thier websites that it's illegal to posses, let alone use, radar detctors in France? I only ask as without doing research, how on earth would one find out, apart from the hard way of being stopped by the police, that France has laws against the devices.

Do any other European countries have similar laws?

 

At the end of the day, we'd all not be that bothered if it had stayed 1:0

 

Well, He could be an independant radar developer and tester, and was asked to run some tests on some speed camera's where the radar system was reported to have problems, therefore using the detector to confirm wether or not the speed camera's radar detection was working correctly or not!

After all, they are SAFETY camera's! can't have them malfuntioning can we as they might be risking people lives if they do



That a good enough excuse for you?

hehe


EK

 

They probably do. And just like the UK, they will tell you that ignorance of the law is no defence for breaking it.

 

My thought was simply along the lines of. If they were Legal in Germany, and that was your destination, could you say you have put it in the boot so as not to use it in France, but will be using it, quite legally in Germany.

Guessing that would not help much though, as you are still breaking the law by being in possesion of the device.

 

Is it specifically the radar aspect of it that is illegal ? In other words, if I had a GPS-based device would I have a hard time persuading them that it wasn't a radar detector ?

 

Yes you would, the Gendarme didn't have a clue what he was looking at - he'd obviously no experience in the devices. I think it is also highly likely that he would have confiscated a normal sat-nav device if it was positioned on the dashboard. When they've got your passport and license, and they're threatening to take your car you're in quite a defensive position!

 

In that case: 2 Steps to Happiness...

1) Fill a plastic box with dog ****, stick some fake buttons on it, place on your dashboard and drive through France.
2) Laugh in the policeman's face as he insists on confiscating box of dog ****

 

This is not good I have a grands worth of Sat Nav sitting on my dash board and suckered to the window and I Have to drive through France to get back to the UK.