RB5_180

Will be spending the next 10 days in france with the scooby...and the missus...

I have read quite a bit about the French giving harsh fines on UK speeding offences but Im still not sure on a few things like:
1) How can you be caught? Is it only by being followed and clocked or laser or between tolls? No vans or cameras etc?
2) Does their fine system scale up depending on the level above the speed limit? Any examples of how much a 160kph in a 110kph would fare?
3) Where are they stricter? Dual carriageway, country roads or built up areas?
4) Are the horror stories about 500-1000 Euro fines mainly related to serious speeds and car convoys playing around?
5) You still cant get points can you? I know you can get banned from driving in France mind!

Cheers for any advice you can offer

Gary C

You can get done by the toll booths, you ticket is time stamped and if you exceed the average speed limit, you get an instant fine.

However, just drove all the way across France to/from the alps at 80, no problem.

Drove to/from Milan last year in an EVO at !!!! speed, no problems off the toll roads.

Radar detectors are illegal in most european countries, but I only detected one camera in Switzerland and crossed that entire country at an average speed of 107 mph

You should go it Italy, just like the UK in the 80's. Drive fast but well, and no-one bats an eye. Drove for fun with a 911 turbo at ~130 through some twisty mountain tunnels near Como, Porche driver was grinning like a fiend afterwards. Drove from Milan to Venice at 80ish and was the slowest thing on the M-way, drove back at litttttttle bit faster


Ah, driving abroad, 3500 miles at 18 mpg with a 35 litre tank what could be better.

chris's scooby

A mate of mine is off on a motor bike trip (8 countries in 7 days).

We were talking a couple of days ago to me about previous trips and what i need to take with me when i go in the scoob.

Take your v5,mot and insurance details.

Take lots of Euros incase you get nicked.

Don't speed within 20 miles of any city.

There aren't normally any speed traps at the weekends.

If you do get nicked, grovel like hell and don't give the police any lip at all.

Not sure if any/much of that is true but i do know he got a speeding fine down from about £450 to £65, having been stopped after averaging just over 115mph for about 10 miles and peaking at just over 150mph...

Have fun

Chris

davyboy

Drove across France from Luxemburg border to near St Malo on toll roads...120mph all the way. Didn't get nicked.

I reckon toll roads are a free for all - certainly don't check time stamps etc.

white tornado

Don't take your detector to France. My brother goes to France a lot, and he says that even possessing anything like a Road Angel over there is an offence.

devon03

WENT TO FRANCE THIS YEAR. RADAR DETECTORS ARE ILLEGAL, BIG INSTANT FINE SO DONT TAKE. re THE TOLLS NOT SURE ITS TRUE (woops caps) HAD NO PROBS DRIVING FAST BETWEEN BOOTHS AND NO ISSUES.
jUST BE CAREFULL THEY DO HAVE A FEW SPEED CAMARAS AND UNLIKE OURS THEY HAVE THEM FACING YOU NOT AS U DRIVE AWAY FROM THEM. Like us there are warning signs and i only saw them on dual carriageways.

if u let me know where u are going i could tell you where i saw them!

chris's scooby

I think the general unwritten rule is that you could be in trouble if you average over100mph between toll booths.

KiwiGTI

Lived in Belgium for a year and hence travelled in France a lot, also drove to the German rally last month. (averaging around 120mph from Calais).

I've heard the stories but I've yet to see anyone stopped at the side of the road for speeding and I've never actually seen a police car on the French motorways. Ive also driven fast on the tollroads without any problems.

Speed limit is 130Kmh which is 81mph.

I think the French police have more intelligent things to do than pester speeding drivers.

That is my opinion and experience, but I do know that they have supposedly started a crackdown on speeding.

These are the fines :

Speeding fines:
+ 50km/h: you will have to go to court; maximum fine: €1.500
+ 40km/h: you will have to go to court; maximum fine: €750
+ 30km/h: you will have to go to court; maximum fine: €135

One guy got done last year for 151mph and had to spend 5 days in jail.

Also how do they check your average speed with automated tolls?

KiwiGTI

This page gives the number of mobiles radars per province.

http://www1.securiteroutiere.gouv.fr...rs_mobiles.htm

This page gives the location of radars

http://www1.securiteroutiere.gouv.fr...dars_fixes.htm
http://www.securiteroutiere.equipeme...csa-liste.html

RB5_180

Thanks a lot guys...went to the pub to celebrate not having to go to work on Mon morning. All good info duely noted. Will be into Cherbourg by 17:00 then driving to Samuar to start (Will be checking out Le Mans for future reference!). Will also be staying in Dordoigne and somewhere near Biarritz (should have a few days in the Pyrenees) then back from Bilbao.

Radar detector wont be going...glasses and common sense it is then!

forest172

Just got back from driving to cannes and back following a friend in another car that does it on a regular basis. He`s been done quite abit over the years, at speeds over 100mph they take you to the bank for the money, if you ain`t got it!

General rule he was told by the French police was stick to 90mph (150kmph) and no one will bother you, so that`s what I did! No timing on the tolls or anything that I noticed.

bungler

Been dring through France for several years only ever seen one speed trap and that was down in the south .Keep your speed below 95MPH and they usually leave you alone. But beware if you are caught they will take you to a bank or cash point to get the money to pay the fine .But always make sure you have all your documantation and insurance with you. Yhats providing you see 1 on the toll roads in the first place.

billythekid

As said do not take a radar/laser detector. If they catch you with it the likley punishment is for you to run over it....

In villages stick to the limit - lots of gatso style cameras and the odd BiB on a bike etc, on country single lane roads try and stay within 20km/h of the limit.

Toll roads, from what I have seen, there are almost never any police. I have been to France twice this year, and in convoy with my mate in his F40 doing about 120mph cruise and the odd blast a bit faster

STi-Frenchie

Answers to your questions:

1) How can you be caught? Is it only by being followed and clocked or laser or between tolls? No vans or cameras etc?

Time stamps between tolls, fixed and mobile radars. They use a variety of radar guns and radars can be facing towards you or behind you (as in the UK). Some of the mobile ones are particularly nasty as they have a cut out in the boot of a car (usually Renault but it can vary) and the boot will be closed so if you see one parked up on the hard shoulder, slow down. If you are driving along and oncoming traffic flash their lights at you, they are warning you of gendarmes in the vicinity (either that or it's a fellow scooby owner or you are driving on the wrong side of the road )

2) Does their fine system scale up depending on the level above the speed limit? Any examples of how much a 160kph in a 110kph would fare?

Residents (i.e. me) caught doing 160 in a 110 would lose their licence so expect a hefty fine. As others have said, they'll take you to the bank to get the money. One or two members of the french subaru webclub are gendarmes and they've said that the way they apply the "rules" are: 10kmph over the speed limit forget about it. 20kmph over the limit is a verbal warning, 30kmph over the limit is a fine (about 90 euros), 40kmph over the limit, heavy fine (up to 500 euros), 50kmph over the limit and it's licence lost *on the spot* and into court.

3) Where are they stricter? Dual carriageway, country roads or built up areas?

You just need to keep your eyes peeled. Watch entrances and exits to villages in particular and do not exceed 50kmph in the villages (entry to a village or built up area is a white rectangular sign with a red border and the name of the place in black letters - the exit from it is a white rectangular panel with the name of the place and a diagonal red line through it). Outside of the villages, the speed limit is 90kmph. Dual carriageways are generally speaking, gendarme-free but be careful of bridges as they like to sit on top of them with radar guns.

4) Are the horror stories about 500-1000 Euro fines mainly related to serious speeds and car convoys playing around?

See (2) above.

5) You still cant get points can you? I know you can get banned from driving in France mind!

They have been trying to introduce a system to track offending motorists down even when they've left the country but I believe it doesn't work too well which is why they prefer on the spot fines.

STi-Frenchie

Oh, an as said above, under no circumstances take a radar detector with you - even if it's not installed. The gendarmes do not tolerate them at all. I've heard of cases where people have been nicked on the spot and others where the detectors have been destroyed there and then.

STi-Frenchie

Last tip - plan your route and check out mappy.com - they won't list the mobile radars but they will list the fixed ones. Enjoy your drive, the roads are fantastic !

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

One more thing to watch for is lowered limits (110, 90 etc) on 130kph rated roads. They DO enforce these on a fairly regular basis with laser binocs.

I have a friend over near Lille who has been done TWICE for exceeding the speed limit while leaving an autoroute: it's usually 90, then very quickly 70 then 50 kph.............beware when approaching tolls, the limits come down, and it' s a dead easy place to stop you:

Happy driving

DBY

Got done last August blatting back to Calais 120MPH + they did me for 106MPH over given Distance. Took driving licence off me, along with passport and sent me to cash point, to get the money to pay the on the spot fine £90 euros. You then get your doc's back and continue on your way. This made me later still, so had to go even faster !!!

All good fun

John

Claudius

1/ Laser on the roadside. They measure your speed approx 1km ahead and stop you when you get there
2/ automatic fixed radar equipment (positions available on www.mappy.com as mentioned). This thing just takes a pic that they'll throw away as you have foreign plates
3/ Police bikes / cars seeing you driving faster than allowed, they will pull you and fine you 90 euros (they cannot prove your speed, they'll only fine you for "excessive speed").
4/ older radar equipement that either takes a pic (in which case they'll throw that away) or they'll radio your info over to guys a few km away and they'll stop you, typically at a parking lot or toll station.


Exactly.

Claudius

That's not true, they are not allowed to use that as proof of speeding. They do it in Italy, though.

brybusa

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=358520

the toll booth thing is a myth by the way.....enjoy!

C

I think thats an old wives tale

We averaged 'well' over 100mph on one stint on the way to Le Mans this year & they didnt even bat an eyelid

Iain Young

Drove back through France a couple of weeks ago (on a Sunday), starting at Strasbourg and ending up in Calais. On the trip I must have seen about a dozen speed traps on the motorway, not all near big towns / cities either. They were measuring speed at the side of the road, and then stopping people at the toll booths.

I've seen traps on the roads nearly everytime I've been to France (mostly at the weekends), so they are out there....

Be careful...

Gary C

Hum, Ok, take your word for it. Got that of a friend who lived in france and now lives in Italy. Maybe I got them confused.

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

soz not read all posts but heres my bit

lived in france for a few months now and this is how i see it
not seen many, none on motorways, tend to be in villages waiting for cars going through mainly at about 2.30 - 3.30pm after the 2 hour lunch and they dont seem to pull over uk plates, ive done a ton on motorways for hours on end and been overtaken and not seen one copper, you could be warned before reaching the police by people flashing, but this can also be due to either an accident or something in the road ahead, I wouldnt worry about it if your not going to be stupid which im sure your not, just go easy through villages and then you can cane it out of them.

my experience is from calais to britanny and around bordeaux and la rochelle

wish i still had the scoob, they were made for roads like these, dont see many on the roads ere either but loads for sale in mags!

the subaru dealer near poitiers i think is also a lada dealer, kin ell.
or is it hyundai


just read your going to Saumur, not a million miles away from us, near Parthenay

Enjoy

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

just found out theres a meet/race day near poitiers on the 11th of september
http://www.club-amateurs-subaru.com/...ge=Calendrier#

STi-Frenchie

LeeMac, check out www.webclub-subaru.com - the main site isn't up to much but the forum is where it's at - much better than the club-amateurs-subaru.com crowd (IMHO).

Cider boy

Yes it is - the Toll booths do not have any synchronisation of thier timing equipment, the clocks in the booth (and therefore stampted on ticket) are set individually at each set of booths. To be prosecuted for speeding the clocks would have to be in sync to be sure of an accurate time. I have done many miles in France and Spain, mostly on my bike, and on quiet toll roads it's easy to average 150 MPH on the gixer and the toll operator has never batted an eyelid.

If you get caught by the Police doing those sort of speeds though they will (of course) be pretty harsh. It's easy not to get caught though as they are so few and far between on the toll roads - and always spotable if your keep your eyes peeled

Matt

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Just noted two posts on here saying the French police will throw awya foreign plated car pics.


Not sure about that............they can and do trace you through our cops. Be warned.

Alcazar

Claudius

1) if the speed was recorded automatically (gatso), they will junk it as they cant process it if the plate isnt in their database
2) if they stop you, they make you pay right there and then
3) it is indeed possible, but lengthy and costly, to prosecute a foreigner for 90 euros... in general, they junk it.